Thursday, May 14, 2009

The Switch to Digital TV

It was originally going to be in February, but now it's in June that analog goes bye-bye and digital TV is the new standard. If you don't buy one of those converter boxes, you won't be able to watch television unless you subscribe to cable or satellite. I found some neat links over the last few days that help with information about this change. In fact, since I might have to completely give up my cable very soon, these links have been very helpful.

The first one is the government's site and I'm also including their 'contact us' page. It gives the address you can write to them as well as an email address. All of the phone numbers are automated. Here you can read all about the change to digital and the converter box coupons that you can order.

There's a terrific informational site called TV Fool where you can input your zip code and find out what channels you are most likely to receive once the transition is made. It divides the channels into ones you should be getting, one you will probably get, and ones you probably won't without a really strong antenna. The TV Signal Locator page is extremely simple to use and only takes a minute.

Next up is Rabbit Ears and it can tell you what your local stations are and where their towers are located. It's more neat information.

Last up, if you have questions about the conversion, there's a forum designed to answer your questions. It's not government run, but there are some very in-the-know folks there and it's another good place to ask questions about the entire process of switching to digital and setting up your converter box.

2 comments:

Jay said...

Very informative! I'm glad the transition was postponed to June 12th, 2009. Aso happy to see that the government has extended the deadline to apply for a $40 DTV coupon all the way to July 31st, 2009. The latst Neilson ratings report that the status of households who are not ready for DTV signals is down to 2%. That number has come down quite a bit over the past year, but it still means there are a little over 2 million households in the U.S. that will lose reception after the Digital Transition.

Only 30 days left until the switch. Convert your televisions now! :)

Unknown said...

I think the DTV transition will be a positive change. For years the public has been limited in the quality and selection offered in the over the air sector. The only other option was to pay for high priced cable/satellite programming. The Switch to Digital TV will give the public a new choice of quality high definition (HD) free over the air (OTA) television programming. Hopefully the advertisers will see an opportunity for increased revenue and the programming choices will be expanded. This has been very helpful and the links are a great find.

 
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