Digital Switch Coming This Friday

The switch from analog to digital television is finally here. This Friday, June 12, television stations across the United States will cease broadcasting analog signals and switch to digital television.

The change was supposed to occur in February of this year.  But a bill championed by President Barak Obama and passed by both houses of Congress, delayed the switch.  The hope was to give more Americans a chance to make the switch in time.

But no matter what happens, this time there will be no more delays.  Obama told reporters yesterday the switch is going forward Friday.

That doesn’t mean that everyone will be ready, though.

“There’re going to be some angry consumers,”  acting Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Copps told USA Today.

About 3 million over-the-air homes won’t be ready, Nielsen predicts. Digital, satellite and cable TV customers won’t be affected. About 20 million households receive TV signals exclusively over the air, the National Association of Broadcasters says.

The number of affected homes would have been much higher — at least 6 million, Copps guesses — if Congress hadn’t pushed back the switch by four months. “The delay gave us the opportunity to roll up our sleeves” and tackle a host of issues, he says.

The transition is expected to take place around midnight in most markets.  Some smaller markets have already switched over to full-time digital signals.  Others are still offering both signals.

Another 13 million homes are expected to be only partially ready, says the FCC, citing Nielsen data. That means at least one TV in the home — say, in a guest room or garage — won’t be prepared.

Copps says many of these secondary TVs are used infrequently — for movies, gaming and such — or just sit idle. Some may never be transitioned.

To continue receiving signals on Friday, older TVs that reveive signals via antenna must be hooked up to a converter box that turns digital signals into analog. The government is offering $40 coupons — two per household — to offset the cost.

The FCC has contracted with vendors across the country for help with in-home installation services. The service is free, but consumers must supply their own converter box and antennas