Creative ways to meet DTV challenge

Pubcasters brought many questions and nearly as many suggestions for handling the DTV transition to NETA’s Jan. 14 session on the topic. Stations are struggling with the possible date shift and wondering, will they be required to remain in analog until that later date? An NTIA rep said legislation is still pending so it’s impossible to know. What if the station advises a viewer to purchase equipment that ultimately doesn’t work, is there a liability issue? Hard to say. More liability issues include station staff entering viewers’ home to fix reception problems. WKNO in Memphis is partnering with a local senior volunteer organization that has the necessary insurance; those volunteers are being trained to do the fixes. Also of service to viewers at WPSU in Pennsylvania: A Google map showing its coverage area for viewers to type in an address and see if they’ll still receive a signal or will have problems. In general, reps from several stations that have already converted advise that viewer rescans of receivers are helpful. The NETA conference runs through Friday in Tampa.