After years of hype, delays, coupons and infomercials, the end
of analog television broadcasts has finally happened. Although a few of you
might have had your picture go dark, the majority wouldn't have even noticed if
not for the media frenzy and barrage of public service announcements.
After much hoopla, the original cutoff date of February 17th was delayed because government surveys showed that 5.8 million homes
were not equipped with a digital television or converter box. A new date of
June 12th, 2009 was decided upon to give people more time to
prepare. By the June date, surveys showed 2.8 million homes were still not
ready, half the original number but still a considerable group; either way
there would be no second postponement.
Converter Box Coupon
Program
The major reason for the transition delay was to give the government more
time to distribute converter box coupons, a program which they had ran out of
money for. Eventually a new round of funding was authorized and everyone on the
waiting list received a coupon in the mail.
If you are still without the converter box, the request
period is staying open until July 31st, 2009. Even if your main TV
has a digital receiver, you may want a free box for your older set.
 Over 1 Million Calls
Since stations ended their analog broadcasts, there have been over 900,000
calls to the FCC's hotline. Most of these calls concern reception issues,
setting up converter boxes, or other questions about the digital broadcasts.
This does not include the over 200,000 calls that were transferred to the
agency distributing the $40 converter box coupons.
New Signal Acquired
About 2 days after the cutoff date, my TV popped up a notice that said it had
acquired a new signal. The channel it found was WNYA on 55-1, which is known as
MY4 Albany. Browsing through MY4's schedule, they seem to have a decent program
lineup along with exclusive rights to 12 Yankees baseball games this season.
Have you had any issues or noticed any changes in your
television reception since the analog cutoff date? Do you think the delay made
any difference?
For those of you that have an old unused television lying
around, check out this article that gives some interesting ideas for DIY projects involving your old analog sets - or better yet, come up with your
own.
More Info:
Some US TV Stations Will Go Dark After Digital Shift
2.8 Million Not Ready for DTV Transition
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