When it comes to the digital TV transition, one local station is delaying its plans.

WNKY in Bowling Green will continue to transmit its analog signal until June 12, the new deadline for television stations to switch to digital signals.

The local station is one of 123 nationwide broadcasters the Federal Communications Commission is requiring to wait until the June deadline to make the complete switch to digital.

The FCC reviewed about 491 stations that intended to terminate analog service Tuesday, the original deadline to make the digital switch.

The FCC mandated that about one-third of those stations, including WNKY, continue to provide the analog service because an early termination would “pose significant risk of public harm,” according to an FCC notice.

The FCC designated markets that served viewers who are not ready to make the digital switch, and therefore would lose access to local news, public affairs and emergency information.

“They felt that it would be safer than just cutting those people off,” said Jeff Cash, president and general manager of WNKY. “We were conscious also to not cut those people off.”

WNKY prepared for two years to cut its analog signal and switch to digital Tuesday.

It’s the only local station that has not yet cut its analog signal – WBKO and WKYU shut off their signals in December.

“We were completely prepared to make the switch,” Cash said. “Feb. 17 has always been the hard deadline. For years we prepared for that deadline and we never wavered that would be the date. So we were surprised.”

WNKY, an NBC and CBS affiliate, has already switched to digital service, so it now transmits both digital and analog signals. Nearly half of southcentral Kentucky residents watch WNKY each week, Cash said.

Dual transmitters increase the station’s utility costs, but Cash said the situation is positive for both the station and its viewers.

“We first of all are very happy to accommodate those analog-only viewers that would have been cut off,” he said. “They still have the opportunity to see us, so we do see that as a positive.”