 The delay passed Congress despite this prediction (see Extension of transition to June 12).As part of a test by the FCC to iron out transition and reception concerns before the nationwide shutoff, all of the major commercial network stations in the Wilmington, North Carolina market ceased transmission of their analog signals on September 8, 2008, making it the first market in the nation to go digital-only.Wilmington was chosen as the test city in part because the area's digital channel positions would remain unchanged after the transition.