In case you’ve managed to miss the news, tonight at midnight will mark the original DTV transition date, when full power over-the-air broadcast stations were supposed to shut off their analog signal and just broadcast in digital.  According to the FCC, 421 stations will do so tonight.  Since 220 stations have already made the switch, that means 641 stations – or 36% – will have met the original deadline, even though the date has been extended to June 12.

As we’ve made clear in the past, the cable industry is ready to handle the broadcast transition situation, however it plays out.  We’ve spent over $250 million so far in education efforts directed at consumers. More recently, we have participated in the creation of an integrated private/public plan for the DTV Advisor Hotline. We’ve been working closely with the broadcast networks; state broadcasting associations; the National Association of Broadcasters and its member local broadcast stations; the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing; and other stakeholders in the DTV Transition, to develop this call center plan that will leverage an interactive automated voice answering system and several thousand live operators during a period leading up to and after the digital transition.  In addition, the FCC has increased staffing at a call center housing its DTV help line. If you have questions, call 1-888-CALL-FCC for assistance.

Just to reiterate our earlier messages, if you’re already a cable customer, and all your TVs are hooked up to cable, then you most likely don’t need to do anything at all. Relax and enjoy your television.

(In the photo above [Credit: Bill Cramer/Wonderful Machine], we see Shareef Graddy and his fellow technicians at Comcast’s call center in Cherry Hill, NJ on Monday, poised to help consumers who want to make the switch from “rabbit ears.”)

With the DTV transition just over a year away, a lot of talk here at CES is focused on the impact of that change. Analog broadcasting ends on February 17, 2009. Estimates are 13-20 million US households rely entirely on over-the-air broadcast (OTA households). 60-70 million analog TVs exist alongside televisions that are either digital or attached to a set-top box.

In an effort to ensure those analog TVs will work after the transition, the government created a coupon program that will allow consumers to purchase low-cost converter boxes that will convert the digital signal to analog for older TVs.

33.5 million coupons will be made available and each is good for $40 towards the purchase of a coupon-eligible converter box. These converter boxes are expected to cost between $40 and $70. Two-thirds are available to every household. One-third will be reserved solely for OTA households. Each household may request up to two coupons.

The application process to request a coupon began last week with coupon distribution beginning February 17. So far the response has been strong with 1.1 million requests for 2 million coupons having been received so far.

Last day to request is 3/31/09 (that date is correct and assumes some people will wake up next February with TVs that don’t receive a signal. Coupons can be requested through March of next year and will be accepted through July 9, 2009.

For a list of eligible converter boxes and participating retailers, visit www.ntiadtv.gov or www.dtv2009.gov.

For more information about the digital transition, you can visit www.dtvtransition.org.