• Associated Press via CNN.com, Thursday, January 10, 2008 11:30 AM

The chief executive of Best Buy says he is "very nervous" about his company's ability to supply customers the millions of digital TV converter boxes that will be needed before most analog TV transmissions end in just 13 months. "I think it's one of the biggest risks our industry has," Brad Anderson told attendees at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Full-power TV stations will turn off their analog signals on Feb. 17 of next year, switching to digital-only. So viewers who get their TV fix via an antenna will need to buy a converter -- assuming they don't have a digital-ready box. Nielsen estimates that 14.3 million households rely on over-the-air television broadcasts for programming and others have sets that receive analog broadcasts in addition to cable, satellite or digital sets in the same household.

"The number of converter boxes that is going to be required could put tremendous pressure on us to solve all those problems" says Anderson. "Once it gets turned off, it could be very interesting," he added.

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