After retiring last year as host of the longest-running daytime game show, Bob Barker is returning to television to remind Americans about the upcoming switch to digital television (DTV).  Barker will be featured in new television spots produced by the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) encouraging viewers to upgrade their sets, so they can continue receiving television signals after the transition on February 17, 2009.  

Watch the new spot with Bob Barker here.

Barker also stars in spots targeted at the Wilmington, North Carolina market, which will transition to DTV in September as part of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) experiment. NAB distributed the spots to television stations across the country on July 24.   

Best known for his 35 years on the CBS game show, “The Price is Right,” Barker was inducted into the NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame in April 2008. He has won a total of 19 Emmy awards, including 14 as host—more than any other performer—and four as executive producer of “The Price is Right.” He is also a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award for Daytime Television.  

Mandated by Congress, all full-power TV stations must begin broadcasting only in digital by February 17, 2009. Consumers who watch over-the-air television on analog TV sets risk losing their reception, unless they either purchase a converter box or digital TV set, or subscribe to cable or other pay service.  

Broadcasters nationwide have committed more than $1 billion to DTV transition education efforts. NAB has provided numerous television spots for stations to use to educate viewers, and will release additional spots in the coming months featuring popular entertainment personalities as part of its massive campaign to help Americans prepare for DTV.

Thanks to Midwest Airlines, you can now add Milwaukee, Wisconsin to the list of non-stop flights Raleigh-Durham International Airport will lose this year.

Earlier this week Midwest Airlines announced it plans to end regional service between it’s hub in Milwaukee and Raleigh-Durham.  The company is in the middle of a major restructuring that goes hand in hand with the price of jet fuel that is killing the entire industry.  But The Brew City isn’t the only RDU causality of late.

We now know when Jay Leno’s last show will be on NBC.  We also know we won’t have much time to think about it because Conan O’Brien will start his version of the Tonight Show three days later.

Jay Leno will walk out on stage for the last time as host of the Tonight Show on Friday, May 29, 2009.  Conan O’Brien will walk out on stage for the first time as host of the Tonight Show three days later on Monday, June 1, 2009.

We are also learning that Jimmy Fallon will take over Late Night in March or April of 2009.  So, that means Conan will have a few months off before starting his new gig on a new coast.  Perhaps, like Leno did when he took over for Johnny Carson, Conan will tour NBC affiliates around the country trying to convince viewers and local station executives that he is the real deal.

I still can’t believe NBC is really going to let this happen.  Sure they pay Leno $27 million a year, but he makes the network almost $300 a year.  Will Conan O’Brien be able to hold Jay’s ratings and revenue?  I don’t think Conan will demand that much salary, but I also don’t think he will demand the ad dollars that Jay brings.  Five years from now, maybe….but that’s a long time in a short fused business (just ask Katie Couric). 

Despite what I say here, it is going to happen…so now we can spend the next ten months trying to figure out where Leno will land.  ABC, FOX, CNN, Oprah….actually, that is a good debate…where will Jay be a guest first?  Conan, Letterman, Kimmel, Larry King or Oprah?  My money would be on Kimmel because I think Leno will wind up at ABC.  The only thing we do know is that Leno is done with NBC. 

From the National Hurricane Center…

Satellite images and surface reports indicate that the area of low pressure off the Georgia coast is becoming better defined and a tropical depression is forming.

There is also an elevated risk of rip currents if you do have plans to go to the beach this weekend.  Stay tuned to NBC17 news and NBC17.com for continued updates on how your weekend weather will be impacted by this tropical system.

Those of you complaining about having to drive too far from Holly Springs for the big time national chain stores and restaurants…complain no more. 

The World has it on good authority from two sources that several large, national chain stores and restaurants will be setting up shop in Holly Springs, North Carolina…including the possibility of a mall.  While the mall is not set in stone and is still a long shot…there are conversations being had.  In the mean time, here are the stores you will soon be able to give your money to in Holly Springs.

Over the years I’ve heard people blame the weather for a lot of different things, but this one sounds a little far fetched (at first).  The weather has rained out parties and weddings; killed many a plant from a late spring freeze and even increased gang activity due to warm weather…but this latest headline is a little hard to believe.

Organizers of the visitRaleigh.com Benefit Concert for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that Jefferson Starship, the legendary San Francisco-based rock band that was born of the original Jefferson Airplane, will kick-off the headline portion of the September 20, 2008 show at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, NC. Original Jefferson Airplane founders and Rock Hall inductees Mary Balin (vocals) and Paul Kantner (vocals and guitar), along with the rest of a band, will be joined on stage by Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten on hits songs ranging from “White Rabbit” to “Somebody to Love” to “Ride the Tiger.” 

Kantner and Balin will be joined by former Jefferson Starship lead guitarist Mark “Slick” Aguilar and Quicksilver Messenger Service co-founder and Jefferson Airplane/Jefferson Starship veteran David Freiberg – who also sang one of the band’s biggest hits, “Jane.” Drummer Donny Baldwin and pianist Chris Smith will fill out the band along with its newest member Cathy Richardson, who was widely applauded for her portrayal of Janis Joplin in the Off Broadway musical “Love, Janis.”  Richardson also tours as lead vocalist with Janis Joplin’s original band, Big Brother and the Holding Co. With Jefferson Airplane, she sings lead on the many hits made famous by Grace Slick.  

Tickets to the September 20, 2008 event at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, N.C. are now on sale via Ticketmaster and the Koka Booth box office. In addition to Jefferson Starship, other artists scheduled to perform include former members of the John Entwistle Band, accompanied by former Deep Purple and Rainbow lead singer Joe Lynn Turner, Blue Oyster Cult lead vocalist and guitarist Buck Dharma, and former original Grand Funk Railroad lead singer and guitarist Mark Farner. Legendary North Carolina bands Arrogance and The Connells are also scheduled to perform, along with a trio of emerging artists that include Supagroup, Parmalee and Grand Society.  Additional headline artists will be announced in the coming weeks.     

Proceeds from the concert will benefit both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum’s educational outreach and the John Entwistle Foundation’s program of providing musical instruments and music lessons to disadvantaged youths through the public library systems in communities across the country.

For those of you who only heard the storms that moved through earlier this week, now see what it looked like through the personal video of NBC17 engineer Tony Blackmon. 

The video was captured from Harnett and Johnston counties on the night of Tuesday, July 8, 2008.