Updated: FCC: 35 Stations To Go Dark June 12

Agency Says Full-Power Stations Will Cease Operation

John Eggerton -- Multichannel News, 6/3/2009 10:15:36 AM

The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that 35 full-power TV station now broadcasting in analog indicated that they will cease operation entirely on June 12, when all full-power stations must transition to digital.

Of those, 18 are owned by Equity Media, and seven of the 35 stations are affiliates of a major network. A full list of the stations is available here.

The FCC said it would try to reduce the number that would go dark, saying some would be available on the subchannel of another digital station.

That news came at the FCC's public meeting Wednesday on the status of the DTV transition.

In a press conference following the FCC's DTV briefing Wednesday where 35 stations were cited, all the commissioners weighed in.

"I am concerned whenever any broadcast station goes dark or shuts down its operation in terms of localism and diversity and competition, said FCC acting chairman Michael Copps. "In the face of a disappearance of another newsoom, that is a net loss for the American people."

Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein called it "almost a perfect storm for the broadcasting industry," citing the unprecedented downturn in advertising, due to a variety of factors.

For his part, commissioner Robert McDowell said he hoped the agency would take broadcasters' "extreme economic duress" into account when it makes new policy.