The FCC made Wilmington, North Carolina their Guinea pig ahead of February's digital TV transition, with area broadcasters cutting analog transmissions on September 9. According to the Associated Press, the FCC received 1,828 complaints (see their report), over half of those from people who say they can no longer view the channels they used to. Given that analog signal covers a broader area than digital, there's chunks of rural America that are going to be left in a lurch. Kevin Martin, you'll be happy to hear, says he's all over it:About 13.4 million television households in the U.S. receive their programming over the air only, roughly twelve percent of all homes with TVs. Applying the Wilmington complaint rate nationally would result in 1.1 million calls to the FCC in the first five days after the cutover. FCC chief Kevin Martin says the cut over could reduce broadcast footprint for about 15 percent of television markets in the U.S, though the agency boss isn't particularly gifted at math or geography.

Consumer group Teletruth thinks the Wilmgington market is far too small to provide real world statistics on how many customers will be impacted. Their latest report highlights how many over-the-air viewers in Hunterdon County, New Jersey (technically part of the NYC viewing market) are losing NY and Philly broadcasts after installing DTV converter boxes. Asks the group: "How did the FCC and NTIA spend over $1 billion dollars and counting on the DTV campaign without actually testing the converter box and antenna configurations, especially in rural fringe areas?"