TV's analog signal goes off today
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Stacy Brown
After more than two years of preparation and a four-month postponement of the original Feb. 17 switch date, television stations around the country will turn off their analog signals for good today.
"We have no real concerns at this time," said Lou Abitabilo, vice president and general manager of WBRE-TV.
"There are no concerns or foreseeable problems," said Chuck Morgan, president and general manager of WNEP-TV.
WOLF-TV and WYOU-TV had previously made the switch to digital and each reported no problems or complaints from viewers.
The original conversion date was pushed backed by the Federal Communications Commission because of concerns about the public's readiness. Slowly, however, those who watch television either acquired DTV-ready sets or purchased a converter box.
The latest figures released at the end of May by Nielsen Media Research show 2.7 percent of American households still were not ready. That percentage represented 3.1 million television households.
Locally, better than 98 percent of television households in Northeast Pennsylvania were prepared for the conversion, the study showed.
"I do know that there are only a few households in NEPA that are not ready and it appears that those who were ready in February have reported few problems," Mr. Abitabilo said.
Eulogy for R&R
The sudden and unexpected announcement this week that Radio & Records, the trade publication that covered the radio industry, will cease publication surprised local radio executives.
"Shocking," said Brett Beshore, general manager of local Shamrock Communications radio stations, a branch of Times-Shamrock Communications which owns The Times-Tribune. "I read it every day and now they are gone."
The magazine's coverage has been folded into Billboard, the publication that primarily covers the music industry and is best known for its tracking of record sales.
"Billboard was always the record industry's trade, while Radio & Records was the radio stations'," said Tom Bass, program director of Times-Shamrock's Rock 107. "Even though R&R had become a shadow of its former self, it was still surprising that it closed. It's a sign of the times," Mr. Bass said.
"R&R was a staple of the radio industry for a long time but their business model didn't evolve with the changing times and, in my opinion, that's what led to their demise," said Ryan Flynn, general manager of Entercom Communications.
"We have decided to consolidate R&R magazine and RadioandRecords.com into Billboard magazine and Billboard.biz and to expand their coverage of the radio industry," Gerry Byrne, a senior vice president for Nielsen Business Media, R&R's parent, said in a statement.
R&R was founded in 1973 and instantly became the chief source for major music industry news.
It was sold in 2006 to VNU Media, a company that owns Billboard, the Hollywood Reporter and AC Nielsen.
About 30 positions were eliminated as a result of R&R's closing, the company said. The Hollywood Reporter also dropped 10 positions, officials said.
Contact the writer: sbrown@timesshamrock.com
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