1:15 PM -- Following a spate of speeches earlier this morning, the city of Wilmington, N.C., became the first U.S. broadcast TV market to transition to digital at 12 noon E.T.



At that time, area stations WWAY (ABC), WECT (NBC), WSFX (Fox), WILM (CBS), and W51CW (Trinity Broadcasting) all cut-over to digital. At the urgency of FCC Commissioner Michael J. Copps, Wilmington raised its hand to make the transition early and offer some real-world data and insight for when the rest of the U.S. cuts over on February 17, 2009. (See DTV Transition Test Bed .)

More coverage to follow later today…

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News