The switch to digital broadcasting, the biggest change for the television industry since color TV, will get a trial run in September in Wilmington, N.C.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin plans to announce today that the agency will run the test of the transition to digital to work out the kinks before most of the country's broadcasters stop transmitting traditional analog signals and upgrade to digital-only programming. Congress has mandated that broadcasters move to all-digital technology on Feb. 17, 2009.

The test in North Carolina, Martin's home state, is scheduled to take place Sept. 8, five months ahead of schedule.

The FCC will monitor the switch to digital programming at Wilmington's four commercial stations to get a better idea of the potential problems other markets can expect on a larger scale next year.

A federal appeals court has denied a request from owners of thousands of low-power television stations to force a ban on government-subsidized converter boxes that can't display their signals.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on Wednesday rejected the request for help filed by the Community Broadcasters Association.

The CBA in March asked the court to order the Federal Communications Commission to ban all digital set-top converter boxes that are not equipped to receive an analog signal, a request that had the potential to derail the biggest broadcasting transition since color television.

The problem facing the 2,600 low-power television stations represented by the association is that they are not subject to the deadline. Most of the converter boxes now on sale will actually block the low-power analog signal from those stations, while the full-power digital signals will display normally.

said by RadioDoc :

Your point?