1 Year And Counting
Posted by Peter on February 17, 2008
Today marks one year until the February 17, 2009 demise of analog broadcasting.
There seems to be a lot of confusion among some people about what is really happening.
Most people won’t need to do anything.
The only thing that is changing is that analog over-the-air broadcasts are stopping. If you get your television signals from cable, satellite, fiber, Internet or some method other than rabbit ears or a roof antenna, you don’t need to do anything. Also, if you have a set with a digital tuner (one bought in the past year or so) and you use an antenna, you probably still don’t need to do anything.
The people who do need to act are those who get over-the-air broadcasts AND have an analog-only TV. You have a few options. The simplest, but most expensive, option is to buy a new TV with a digital tuner. You can also switch to cable or satellite TV service. You can also purchase a converter box that will take the digital over-the-air signals and convert them to analog so they can be displayed on your analog set. If you choose to buy a new TV or a converter and get digital over-the-air broadcasts, there is a possibility you will need to get a new antenna. Many older analog antennas will not adequately handle the digital broadcast signals.
If you want to get a converter box the government will give you a $40 coupon towards the purchase of one. There are some restrictions and time limits, so be sure you know the box you want is available before getting your coupon.
There is always the possibility the cutover date will be extended, but I wouldn’t count on it. There are a lot of very rich powerful interests involved in this, not the least of which is the multi-billion dollar auction of the airwaves that will be released. None of those parties is interested in waiting one extra day to start making money off their new slice of the spectrum.
Clyde Zimmerman said
I have an analog TV with analog cable service
plugged in directly with no box from cable company. Unless the cable provider sends both digital and analog come 2/1/09, won’t I need
the converter box?
Peter said
Clyde – My understanding is that the cable provider is going to be doing the conversion for you. They will receive the digital signal from their source and convert it to analog before they send it out for distribution. They may also choose to send a digital signal for people who can accept it, but that’s up to them.
Remember, this only affects over-the-air broadcasts, so broadcasters have the option of continuing to provide analog signals over cable, satellite or other methods. The feeling is that they will continue to do so for a few years until a large percentage of users have sets with digital tuners.
Here in Philadelphia, Comcast provides both digital and analog signals at the same time. However, they are actively transitioning everyone away from analog.
RuffWonderdog said
ComCast stinks.
They are forcing me to accept 4 digital boxes for my sets.
Then, after I use them for 1 year, said they will charge me $3 for each box.
Thanks alot CC, I think you stink.
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