FCC Pushing 'Double Re-scan'

The Federal Communications Commission says some stations in Chicago and Philadelphia may have to apply for power boosts and are in discussions with stations there about their various technical issues, but that it is currently focused on consumer-based fixes for reception problems, including promoting what it is calling the "double-rescan." That is having consumers clear out their boxes' memories before re-scanning, a process the commission says is having success, particularly in Chicago. The FCC's call center volume continues to drop as viewers settle in to the DTV transition. According to an FCC spokeswoman, the DTV helpline took just under 63,000 calls on Sunday. That was after recording a one-day record of 317,000-plus on Friday, June 12, as stations were pulling the plug on analog. Saturday saw a drop-off to just north of 145,000 calls.