An intervention by the Federal Communications Commission just days before nearly 500 television stations had planned to turn off their analog signals has resulted in 43 stations delaying their cutoffs until June, the agency said late Friday.
Stations that are postponing their analog shutdowns from Feb. 17 until June 12 are in and around Bakersfield, Calif.; Billings, Mont.; Charleston, W.V.; Dayton, Ohio; Eugene, Ore.; Lincoln, Neb.; Mobile, Ala.; Wichita, Kan., among others.
While most of the country’s 1,796 full-power TV stations accepted an extension of analog transmissions until June 12 voted through by Congress and signed into law this week, 491 applied to keep the original cutoff date.
About 190 stations have already cut their analog signals.
Concerned that the number of stations sticking to the Feb. 17 shutdown would mean that some areas would be left without major-network broadcasts in analog, the FCC on Wednesd ay imposed extra conditions on 106 stations planning to go early. It had originally said 123 would turn off early.
Of the 106 stations, 53 said they would comply with the conditions for an early shutdown. Ten more pleaded that economic hardship or technical reasons forced them to go early.
The agency said it would review those pleadings over the weekend.
The reversal of the 43 stations’ plans means that about 35 percent of U.S. full-power TV stations would be digital-only on Feb. 18. Big-city stations are largely keeping their analog signals until June.
Markets where many or all major-network stations still plan to turn off analog transmissions next week are San Diego and Santa Barbara, Calif.; Providence, R.I.; La Crosse and Madison, Wis.; Rockford, Ill.; Sioux City, Iowa; Waco, Texas; Macon, Ga.; Scranton, Pa.; and Burlington, Vt.
Oscar Nominees Delve Into The Art Of Editing At ACE Session
You couldn’t miss Sean Baker at this past Sunday’s Oscar ceremony where he won for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Editing on the strength of Anora. However, earlier that weekend he was in transit from the Cesar Awards in Paris and thus couldn’t attend the American Cinema Editors (ACE) 25th annual panel of Academy Award-nominated film editors held at the Regal LA Live Auditorium on Saturday (3/1) in Los Angeles. While the eventual Oscar winner in the editing category was missed by those who turned out for the ACE “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” session, three of Baker’s fellow nominees were on hand--Dávid Jancsó, HSE for The Brutalist; Nick Emerson for Conclave; and Myron Kerstein, ACE for Wicked. Additionally, Juliette Welfling, who couldn’t appear in person due to the Cesar Awards, was present via an earlier recorded video interview to discuss her work on Emilia Pérez. The interview was conducted by ACE president and editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE who also moderated the live panel discussion. Kerstein said that he was the beneficiary of brilliant and generous collaborators, citing, among others, director Jon M. Chu, cinematographer Alice Brooks, and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. The editor added it always helps to have stellar acting performances, noting that hearing Cynthia Erivo, for example, sing live was a revelation. Kerstein recalled meeting Chu some eight years ago on a “blind Skype date” and it was an instant “bromance”--which began on Crazy Rich Asians, and then continued on such projects as the streaming series Home Before Dark and the feature In The Heights. Kerstein observed that Chu is expert in providing collaborators with... Read More