In May 2008 the FCC choose Wilmington North Carolina to be the first community to switch to the new Digital TV Signal that the rest of the US will switch to in February 2009. Well September 8, 2008 was the day of reckoning in Wilmington has come and gone without any reports of serious problems.

According to local and national reports the event was attended by politicians to cable companies all with there fingers crossed we would imagine. The Mayor had a over sized light switch and town offices had various TVs set up with the different signals going to them.

History was made with the flip of the over sized switch and analog TV was gone 6 months before the rest of the country. The change only affects TV owners who are not connected to cable or satellite TV. The FCC courted the town of Wilmington since May to help with the change. The FCC recently said more than 36,000 local households had requested 67,000 coupons, and redeemed 25,000 of them. With the success in Wilmington as a model the FCC, local communities should feel reassured the changes in there towns should go smoothly.