DTV: Digital Television
  Digital television has already begun in a few large markets, but it won't be on the air in Alabama any time soon. However, all the assignments for current analog (NTSC) channels to be moved to their new digital (DTV) channels have already been made. Therefore, I feel it may be of some interest to see where your favorite TV station will wind up once the digital transition is completed in the year 2002.

  As of January 1999, the FCC has changed their initial plans for digital television. Originally, the plans called for a large amount of spectrum to be returned to public use, so the FCC could auction it off. This spectrum was going to be where our current analog channels 2 through 5 are. The FCC has since decided to use these channels, at least initially. Channels 60-69 will be vacated, and much of the space will be used to make room for more public safety frequencies.

  Because NTSC and DTV cannot reside on the same channel, every TV station in the United States will be moving to a new channel. The majority of VHF (channels 2 through 13) stations will migrate to UHF. Here in Alabama, so far only one station will remain on VHF. That will be channel 10 in Mobile, which acquired channel 9 to commence DTV operations.

  It is beyond the scope of my abilities to go in depth on the supposed advantages and disadvantages of this new format. The FCC's introduction to Digital Television page should help you out. There are many message boards and newsgroups that talk about DT regularly. The FCC also has an interesting DTV FAQ page.

  The following table is taken from Docket # 87-268 of the FCC's files. It shows where each Alabama television station's DTV operations will reside. The FCC has changed the effective radiated power (ERP) limits for DTV. NTSC broadcasts currently are limited to 100 kW (channels 2-6), 316 kW (channels 7-13) and 5,000 kW (channels 14-69). All future UHF DTV operations will be limited to 1,000 kW.

  Docket 87-268, Advanced Television Systems and Their Impact upon the Existing Television Broadcast Service, Second Memorandum Opinion and Order of Reconsideration of the Fifth and Sixth Report and Orders, was released 18 December 1998. It contains the most current information on the entire country's DTV allocations, as well as estimated population coverage figures. It also contains recent decisions referring to DTV across the United States.

Any subsequent updates not listed here are available on the FCC Mass Media Division web pages.

  I'll try to provide more DTV information on this page as I get it. - Zach
 

Alabama DT Assignments
The NTSC Channel is what channel the television station is currently on. DTV Channel is where the television station's DTV operations will be. Power is the DTV station's power, in kilowatts. Antenna Height is the DTV station's antenna height above average terrain (HAAT), in meters. % Coverage is the estimated amount of area the new DTV facilities will cover, relative to the current NTSC coverage area.
NTSC Channel City of License DTV Channel Power Antenna Height % Coverage
40
 Anniston
58
 264.5 350
98.0
17
 Bessemer
18
 186.0 675
99.7
6
 Birmingham
50
 1000.0 420
96.5
10
 Birmingham
53
 1000.0 404
99.5
13
 Birmingham
52
 1000.0 408
99.5
21
 Birmingham
28
 280.4 409
98.8
42
 Birmingham
30
 166.3 421
100.0
68
 Birmingham
36
 50.0 314
100.0
41
 Demopolis
19
 50.0 333
99.9
4
 Dothan
36
 1000.0 573
99.8
18
 Dothan
21
 50.0 223
100.0
2
 Dozier
59
 1000.0 210
98.2
15
 Florence
14
 50.0 223
98.5
26
 Florence
20
 50.0 230
100.0
36
 Florence
22
 50.0 221
100.0
44
 Gadsden
45
 50.0 303
99.2
60
 Gadsden
60
 86.9 352
99.4
19
 Huntsville
59
 89.0 352
99.4
25
 Huntsville
24
 50.0 352
100.0
31
 Huntsville
32
 50.0 546
100.0
48
 Huntsville
49
 50.0 579
99.4
54
 Huntsville
41
 53.4 515
100.0
43
 Louisville
44
 168.8 275
99.8
5
 Mobile
27
 1000.0 581
99.6
10
 Mobile
9
 16.5 381
99.9
15
 Mobile
47
 494.6 521
99.6
21
 Mobile
20
 198.9 436
100.0
12
 Montgomery
57
 1000.0 610
99.9
20
 Montgomery
16
 50.0 226
100.0
26
 Montgomery
14
 50.0 183
100.0
32
 Montgomery
51
 284.8 545
99.8
45
 Montgomery
46
 50.0 308
100.0
7
 Mount Cheaha
56
 1000.0 610
99.6
66
 Opelika
31
 50.0 207
100.0
34
 Ozark
33
 50.0 142
100.0
8
 Selma
55
 1000.0 515
100.0
67
 Troy
48
 50.0 592
99.4
33
 Tuscaloosa
34
 198.4 662
96.4
22
 Tuskegee
24
 104.6 325
99.4
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