With less than six months until the analog cut-off, transmitter manufacturers are scrambling to keep up with broadcasters' demands for new transmitters and for upgrades of existing ones.

"We are extremely busy right now," said Dick Fiore, senior director for North America sales, transmission and mobility at Thomson.

"It started in the middle of last year with some 500-600 TV stations planning to change their equipment, and it hasn't stopped."

Mike Rosso, SVP of sales, Axcera, concurs. "The rush really started in the fourth quarter of 2007, and it's been solid ever since."

According to an FCC report released yesterday, just 1,002 or 56 percent of the 1,798 full-power TV stations are ready to pull the plug on their analog transmitters and go digital only as required by law on Feb. 17, 2009.

The other 796 are still working to install the digital transmission facilities they will need to offer full-power digital service. Of those, all but 60 say they will get the job done by the deadline.

According to the manufacturers, the transmitter work takes a variety of forms.

Some are installing new full-power digital transmitters as they make the switch from UHF to VHF or vice versa, while others are upgrading their old analog transmitters so they can take on the digital duties.

"We are seeing a lot of demand for flash-cutting, especially by those stations that have waited until the last minute," says Dan Traynor, VP of Acrodyne Industries.

In flash-cutting, a station shuts down its main analog transmitter and then upgrades it to digital by replacing the exciter and mask filter.

In some cases, the station will have to go dark as its makes the changeover. In others, stations will maintain service by using the low-power DTV transmitters they have used during the long DTV transition.

"Our vendors are really struggling to keep up, not just in mask filters but other components," says Axcera's Rosso.

Potential parts shortages are not the only challenge facing the manufacturers and their customers; manpower is another concern.

There may not be enough qualified transmitter specialists available to take care of the hundreds of stations who haven't finished their work, according to the manufacturers.

Even by staggering the scheduling of such installations, manufacturers say they will be hard-pressed to keep up with the demand.

"There's been an awful lot of planning with our key customer accounts to ensure their transitions to digital are smooth," Fiore said.

"Of course, everyone wants to change out on Feb. 16, 2009, but when you are serving 500-600 TV stations, trying to do this all at the same time is impractical."

So why have some TV stations waited until the last minute? In general, it's a matter of money, the manufacturers say.

"The broadcasters who have the financial wherewithal to do their digital conversions in a timely manner are doing so," Traynor says.

"It is the smaller, underfunded stations that have waited simply because they have had to," he says. "After all, not everyone has the capital on hand to underwrite the substantial cost of converting to full-power DTV transmission. Now they are caught in a time crunch: They need to get the job done, but it's a lot of money to spend."

Thomson's Fiore concurs. "It is very onerous for smaller station markets to spend $200,000 to beef up their tower and another $600,000 for all the related DTV transmission equipment.

"As a result, there may be some of them who end up being late in making the full-power transition to DTV," he says.

"I get the feeling that there will be those who make the decision to risk a delay, based on their financial best interests and the needs of their viewers."

Axcera's Rosso suggests that cash-strapped broadcasters start making small down payments today on the DTV equipment they need "to enable them to get in line now."

"In fact, we received a lot of these kinds of orders in 3Q and 4Q 2007, from customers wanting to ensure that they were covered," he says.

The manufacturers are fairly optimistic that most stations will make the deadline.

"Everyone we've made commitment to for the transition will be done," says Harris's Redmond.

"There will be people coming out of the woodwork to order equipment as we get closer to the analog cut-off date, but we are certain that providing the capacity to serve them will not be an issue for us."

Thomson is taking care of its key customers and figuring out what capacity it has beyond them, says Fiore. "But it is safe to say that we are pretty booked up right now."

Any stations not talking to a transmitter manufacturer today is risking not making the deadline, says Rosso. "Get your orders in as soon as possible."

Acrodyne's Traynor agrees: "Don't wait any longer. Get moving."

The manufacturers are also optimistic that their business will not collapse after the deadline.

Harris's Redmond points to the development of mobile ATSC transmission to cellphones and other handheld devices as offering real opportunities for the industry.

Meanwhile, "the rest of the world is just at the beginning of its conversion to DTV," he says. "There are many more markets that will need new equipment after the U.S. is done."