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[Scott Fybush]

Garrett Wollman wrote:
> <<On Mon, 28 Aug 2006 08:55:43 -0700, John Francini <francini@mac.com> said:
> 
>> So what will happen when all those nice low-digit channel numbers 
>> become unavailable when analog broadcasting goes away?  20 just 
>> doesn't have the same 'ring' to it as 5 does...
> 
> They don't become unavailable, just undesirable.  Channel 7 will still
> be on channel 7, not channel 42, after 2009, as the VHF-high band is
> the best place to be.  I don't think the FCC has made a decision yet
> on how channel numbers in PSIP data will be assigned once the original
> analogue channels go away.

Au contraire - the FCC's policy is that stations will continue to use 
their old analog assignments as their virtual channel numbers in PSIP 
data, regardless of what RF channel they end up on.

There's also a provision for virtual channels 70 and up to be used for 
"national" services down the road - so CW could be on virtual "95" in 
every market, for instance.

s