Hawaii became the first state
in the country to cut over to all-digital TV broadcasts at 12 noon local time
Thursday, with only a few problems reported by Aloha State
residents.
For
Time Warner Cable's Oceanic division, the cable provider in Hawaii, the transition was "smooth as silk,"
with virtually no subscriber complaints, corporate spokesman Alex Dudley said.
Oceanic is offering a basic package of 22 channels,
including 13 local stations, for $9.95 a month for one year following the DTV
transition.
The
switch affected an estimated 20,000 over-the-air households in Hawaii, according to
officials, out of 424,000 TV households in the state.
The
two call centers set up by the Federal Communications Commission to handle
consumer inquiries received around 500 calls by 5:30 p.m. Hawaii standard time
on Thursday, about 200 of those prior to the noon shutoff, Hawaii Association
of Broadcasters president Chris Leonard told Broadcasting & Cable. Leonard says the association handled 900 calls in the week leading up to the
analog shutoff.
Hawaii was earlier than the
rest of the country to make the digital TV transition partly to avoiddisturbing the nesting habitat of an endangered species of bird, the
dark-rumped petrel, near existing analog broadcast towers.
At
noon Thursday in Hawaii,
a message with white text on a blue background was broadcast over the analog
airwaves: "All full-power Hawaii TV stations are now digital." The
"night light" will continue for several days or weeks, depending on
the station.
According
to the Associated Press, one issue
cropped before the switch: The PBS station on the Big Island of Hawaii said it
had not yet received equipment to broadcast its digital signal to South Point,
which is the southernmost point in the U.S.
PBS
Hawaii said a shipping company error delayed construction of the digital relay
site on the Big Island, and added that it hopes to have
the transmitter up and running within two weeks, AP reported.
Nationwide,
the digital TV transition has been set to happen at midnight Feb. 17, 2009.
However, at the behest of the incoming Obama administration, lawmakers are
attempting to move the deadline. Legislation is pending in the House of
Representatives that would push the date to June 12.
