Analog signals: Another one bites the dust

The University of Michigan’s WFUM-TV in Flint, Mich., is the latest of a growing number of pubTV stations to plan an early turnoff of analog broadcasting. WFUM will turn off both its analog and digital transmitters Nov. 19 for three days while Thomson technicians move the DTV signal generators into its Channel 28 transmitter. The analog will stay off. On Nov. 22, the station will resume DTV broadcasts but on the old channel long used for analog, Director of Engineering Wayne Henderson tells Current. Starting Nov. 19 — 90 days before the nationwide analog turnoff Feb. 17 — the FCC allows analog turnoffs by stations that follow a streamlined notification procedure. More in our Nov. 10 issue.