The Federal Communications Commission late Friday reissued the list of stations it had identified at a June 3 DTV briefing as "expected to be dark for some period of time after June 12th",cutting the number of stations from 35 to 31, including dropping three that were mistakenly included.
Eloise Gore, associate bureau chief of the Media Bureau, had talked of the 35 stations going dark, drawing concerned responses at the meeting from acting FCC chairman Michael Copps and commissioner Robert McDowell.
The original list also drew a concerned response from the owners of one of the stations identified as "silent," Fox affiliate KXVA Abilene, which had been on the air with a digital signal since Feb. 17, its owner and engineer told Multichannel News.
The FCC, on Friday, June 5, removed KXVA from the list, as well as three other stations. "The issue is resolved," said an FCC spokesman in a phone message.
The spokesman also said independent station WLNY Riverhead, N.Y. did not belong on the list, without elaboration.
A third station, KCWK Walla Walla, Wash., was already off in analog. The license had been canceled, "so the viewers won't know any difference, said the spokesman.
A fourth station, WMTJ Fajardo, PR, fixed its technical problem and will be on in digital June 12, he said.
