• The Associated Press, Monday, December 29, 2008 10 AM

The FCC says a small percentage of television viewers who hook up converter boxes to their analog-only TV sets could still lose some or all broadcast channels after the Feb. 17 digital transition.

A new FCC report states that after the digital switch, nearly a fifth of the nation's full-power television stations will no longer reach at least 2% of viewers now covered by analog signals, even with converter equipment. Concerns have been mounting that despite what digital transition ads say, some consumers with converter boxes will still lose over-the-air broadcast channels after the mandatory switch.

The reason for the problem is that many television stations will shift to digital by changing transmitter locations, antenna patterns or power levels, so the stations' broadcasts will no longer reach all their existing viewers. The FCC is not requiring television stations to replicate their analog coverage.

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