Local residents who get their TV the old-fashioned way, with rabbit ears or analog rooftop antennas, are in for some inclement weather at the end of Tuesday: snow.
Snow on their screens instead of their local TV stations, that is.
At midnight Tuesday, four out of seven San Diego area television stations are scheduled to turn off their analog signals. From then on, they'll broadcast exclusively in digital. So for those who have clung to their decades-old viewing patterns, Tuesday is D-day, or digital day.
Cable and satellite TV customers don't need to do anything. Their programs will appear exactly as before. The transition only concerns those who get free television signals over the air.
Recently, the government delayed the mandatory shutdown of analog TV signals by four months to give people with older TVs more time to prepare, some broadcasters are switching to all-digital broadcasts Tuesday, as they had originally planned.
Because it is costly to keep broadcasting analog signals, nearly 500 stations around the nation -- and four in the San Diego County market -- said they would make the transition Tuesday rather than June 12.
None of the major Los Angeles-based stations available over the air in Southwest Riverside County are switching to digital-only Tuesday.
In the San Diego region, the following are shutting down analog broadcasts Tuesday, according to the Federal Communications Commission: XETV Channel 6; KFMB Channel 8; KGTV Channel 10; and Fox 5 (Channel 69).
KPBS Channel 15 plans to switch in April. KNSD Channel 39 and KUSI Channel 51 will broadcast in analog until June.
Time to change
Enough people are prepared for digital television that it doesn't make sense to wait, said Fox 5's Will Givens, director of branding and integrative marketing.
"While you're never going to be 100 percent prepared, we're pretty comfortable that most of the market will be ready," Givens said.
Moreover, Fox 5 will play a 20-minute instructional video about the transition for one week after the end of regular analog broadcasting, Givens said. The video will loop around the clock for the whole week.
"For anyone who for any reason is caught unprepared, if you tune to us at any time during the next week, you're going to get that instructional video, both in English and Spanish, that walks you through every scenario," Givens said.
Most viewers won't be affected by the transition, said Michael Shames, executive director of San Diego-based Utility Consumers' Action Network.
"Because there aren't that many San Diegans who rely on over-the-air reception, it hasn't been a huge issue for us," Shames said.
Some aren't ready
But even the small percentage who rely on analog reception translates into thousands of bewildered viewers, said Charles Langley, a UCAN consumer advocate.
"It is possible that as many as 10,000 households could go dark in North County," Langley said. "These are largely senior citizens and the information-poor. When we say information poor, we mean people without Internet access, people who do not subscribe to the North County Times, and people who do not have, or can not afford cable access."
As of Jan. 22, 6.7 million U.S. households, or 5.7 percent of the total, were completely unprepared for the digital transition, said The Nielsen Co., which surveys television viewing habits.
In San Diego County, 5.9 percent of households, or about 65,000, were completely unready, Nielsen estimated. Those partially ready comprised about 9.6 percent of households. Nearly 85 percent were completely ready.
What to do
The digital transition has been in the works for years. Digital signals require less radio spectrum and are less vulnerable to static than traditional analog signals. Digital broadcasts also tap the full potential of new high-definition televisions to give higher quality images.
Those still relying on analog can choose among four alternatives:
- Get cable television
- Get satellite television
- Install a digital antenna on televisions that can receive digital signals
- Install a converter box and digital antenna on televisions that can't receive digital signals.
Of course, all of these solutions cost money. Cable and satellite are the most expensive, with a recurring monthly fee. Satellite transmissions are already digital, so they are unaffected by the change.
Cable signals are increasingly digital, but some stations are delivered in analog. The Federal Communications Commission says cable companies are required to provide local stations in analog as long as they provide any analog service, even after the June 12 deadline.
For televisions that can already receive digital signals, the digital antenna is the least expensive option.
Digital antennas are available in stores, or you can make them yourself for next to nothing. Numerous tutorials are available on the Internet, such as a video by the do-it-yourself technology publication Make magazine.
Converter boxes, for older televisions that can't get digital signals, are available at electronics stores and major retailers such as Wal-Mart.
UCAN's Shames said those who haven't gotten a converter box can save money by first getting discount coupons. U.S. households can get two coupons, each worth $40 off the price of a converter box. For more information, call 1-888-388-2009 or apply online at www.dtv2009.gov.
Contact staff writer Bradley J. Fikes at (760) 739-6641 or bfikes@nctimes.com. Read his blogs at bizblogs.nctimes.com
