3,000 Viewer Calls After Milwaukee Soft DTV Test

According to the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, 23% of Milwaukee's television viewership is analog-only. On September 15, four stations in the market pulled the plug on their analog signal for one minute at 5:10 p.m., while others ran crawls or graphics at the same time with digital-TV-education information and a referral to a live, three-hour phone bank that was set up to answer viewer questions. The test generated 3,000 viewer calls in less than 3 hours. The 8 stations that did not pull the plug had "certain technical issues" that prevented them from doing so at this time.