Bloomberg By Todd Shields

U.S. regulators may block certain television stations from switching to exclusively digital broadcasts next week because some viewers aren’t ready, said Michael Copps, head of the Federal Communications Commission.

“We’re going to have to consider some prohibitions,” Copps, acting chairman of the agency, told reporters in Washington today.

Yesterday, the agency said 39 percent of major TV stations told it they intend to abandon traditional analog signals by Feb. 17, which had been the deadline for the digital switch until Congress postponed the move.

Congress voted last week to extend the deadline to June 12 to give viewers more time to get ready. The bill awaits the signature of President Barack Obama, and an aide said he will sign the measure.

“Dislocation and confusion are coming on Feb. 17th and 18th,” Copps said. He said regulators would devote “special scrutiny” to broadcasters in markets where many TV stations intend to abandon analog signals next week.

“They’re going to have to have truly compelling reasons,” Copps said.

WASHINGTON By AMY SCHATZ at the Wall Street Journal – About 40 of the nation’s local broadcast stations want to shut off analog broadcasts by next week, raising concerns that thousands of Americans soon could lose TV service despite Congress’s recent decision to postpone the digital TV switch.

Congress approved delaying the mandatory switch to digital-only television to June 12, but local stations can ask to switch earlier than that. Many want to do so, hoping to save thousands of dollars they would have to pay to continue broadcasting in both analog and digital for a few more months.

Lawmakers didn’t anticipate that so many stations nearly 2 in 5 would want to shut off analog signals Tuesday, and the development raises the likelihood that some consumers will become even more confused about what to do. At the Federal Communications Commission, officials are considering denying some stations’ requests so communities won’t be left without at least one local channel.

“It’s important to understand that while a significant number of broadcasters want to shut off their signals early for economic reasons, the FCC will work hard to ensure entire markets aren’t blocked out,” said Robert McDowell, a Republican FCC commissioner. Interim FCC Chairman Michael Copps declined to comment.

Most Americans won’t be affected by the switch to digital because they subscribe to cable or satellite TV services. About 20 million U.S. households rely on free over-the-air TV, although millions of viewers have already prepared for the digital switch by installing set-top converter boxes. Nielsen Co. recently estimated that about six million homes nationally are unprepared for the switch.

For consumers wondering what to do, the FCC will post on its Web site a list of the stations that plan to shut off service early. Local stations must also inform viewers of their intentions through on-air promos and an announcement on their Web sites.

Nearly 500 stations asked the FCC for permission Monday night to shut down their older analog signals on Tuesday of next week, the original date of the mandatory switch. An additional 190 local stations either already have permission to switch early or have done so already.

Even though the Senate hasn’t yet made cyber-security a top priority, having cut research allocations out of the stimulus bill it just passed, President Barack Obama is taking steps to make cyberspace safer on a variety of levels.

The President launched on Monday a 60-day inter-agency review of everything cyber-related throughout the U.S. government. Notably, the initiative is not only geared toward government security, but is intended to take a close look at protecting the private sector as well. “The national security and economic health of the United States depend on the security, stability, and integrity of our nation’s cyberspace, both in the public and private sectors,” said John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security, in a statement.

The White House had already outlined its goals for cybersecurity, including working “with the private sector to establish tough new standards for cyber security and physical resilience.”

To head up the review effort, Obama appointed Melissa Hathaway, who worked on cyber-security for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Hathaway, who will serve as Acting Senior Director for Cyberspace for the National Security and Homeland Security Councils during the review period, is considered by many to be a candidate for a new administrative position called Assistant to the President for Cyberspace.

Hathaway has connected the ID theft of private individuals and foreign spying activities that have threatened the government infrastructure, stating in a McClatchy-Tribune editorial that “When it comes to cyber security, government and the private sector need to recognize that an individual vulnerability is a common weakness.” (If you have Adobe Acrobat, you can download and read Hathaway’s complete Oct. 17, 2008 editorial, Safeguarding our cyber boarders, from the online press release section of the ODNI.)

—Donna Tapellini

Group Will Update To June 12 Hard Date When President Officially Approves Measure

John Eggerton Multichannel News, 2/10/2009 11:08:05 AM MT

A spokesman for the National Telecommunications & Information Administration says that the reason its Web site continues to include information about the move of the digital TV hard date transition to June 12 and the original deadline of Feb. 17 is because President Obama has still not signed the bill shifting the date.

Currently, the section updating the DTV-to-analog coupon box program on NTIA’s DTV transition Web site says that Congress has voted to move the date. The section on the DTV transition still talks about all analog shutting off on Feb. 17.

“The deadline is of June 12 is not public law until the president signs the bill,” said NTIA spokesman Bart Forbes. “At that point we will update all references to the DTV deadline on the Web site.

While the president at press time had still not signed the bill – a White House spokesperson had not responded to an inquiry into why that had not occurred yet – the FCC is operating as though the date has been moved, requiring TV stations by midnight Monday to tell the FCC whether they were planning to still go Feb. 17, which would constitute the early deadline now.