A record of 55,000 calls in one day flooded help lines at the Federal Communications Commission on May 21, 2009 after TV stations across the country broadcast a series of warnings about the shutoff of analog television signals scheduled for June 12. The “soft test” was a text warning that lasted a few minutes, broadcast three times during the day in more than 125 TV markets, including at least one station in each of the top 30 markets.

Viewers were asked to call 1-800-CALL-FCC to request assistance—and they did, 55,000 of them, way over the normal daily call volume of 15,000 in past months. Acting FCC chair Michael Copps stated: “This soft test did exactly what it was supposed to do. It was a wake-up call for consumers who are unprepared, alerting them to the fact that they need to take the necessary steps before the June 12 DTV transition.”

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