Eleven more stations have been added to the NAB’s list of those broadcasters now on-the-air with a digital signal. This brings the on-air total to 779, still far short of the 1,300 commercial stations that were supposed to be on by May 1, 2002.
Of this total, nearly 100 of the stations are PBS members, including new stations WMED-TV Calais, Maine (market rank #153), and WGCU-TV Ft. Myers, Fla. (market rank #70), which are not mandated to be on until May 1, 2003.
Among the 11 new DTV stations, KCWC-TV Casper, Wyo. (market rank #200) and KKTU-TV Cheyenne, Wyo. (market rank #197) are the first in its respective markets on-the-air in digital.
The other new commercial stations include: KFWU-TV San Francisco, Calif. (market rank #5), KPTM-TV Omaha, Neb. (market rank #78), KXVO-TV Omaha, Neb. (market rank #78), KSWT-TV Yuma, Ariz. (market rank #172), KHQA-TV Quincy, Ill. (market rank #164), KTWO-TV* Casper, Wyo. (market rank #200), and WCSC-TV Charleston, S.C. (market rank #105).
DTV signals are now being transmitted in 186 markets that include 97.44 percent of U.S. TV households. In addition, 72.28 percent of the more than 106 million U.S. TV households are in markets with five or more broadcasters airing DTV and 36.55 percent are in markets with eight or more broadcasters sending digital signals, although those signals continue to be difficult to receive in many areas of the country.
For more information visit www.nab.org.
