By Peter Svensson, Technology Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --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.
Alec Baldwin Urges Judge To Stand By Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Case In “Rust” Shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer โ but not the trigger โ and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link... Read More