Lurker Lee

Will the TV stations stop transmitting analog at 00:01 that day or 23:59? IOW, will there be analog broadcasts on that Friday? I'm just curious when the people who haven't paid any attention will notice, and the uproar will begin .

I'm also curious what people's thoughts are on how many people will still not be ready. I know there are some people who are just oblivious to the world around them. But I'm thinking there may be some people who are aware of the transition, but honestly don't think they will be affected. I've heard of people who didn't realize that their little battery op tvs are affected, or that radios that pick up tv channels are affected. And I think there are more than a few people out there who think that analog tvs have rotary dials on them, so if they have a tv with a digital entry on the remote, that equal digital tvs.

divxhacker

Low-power analog stations would come through, that's it. Unfortunately those legacy pocket TV devices would need a DTV converter box to pick up the stations that have been forced to drop the full-power broadcasting for digital.

Maybe the fullpower-stations would just change to the low-power mode instead of changing to digital. Would they be required to display ads for switching to DTV?

You should re-scan your DTV tuners.

For those who live nearby Mexico, Canada or other countries not affected by the DTV change should re-scan the analog stations. (Canada will cut off analog stations in 2011, by the way. Mexico will shout off analog in 2022. Why we were given such an extremely short time to change, I'll never know.)

On a clear day I've been able to get a couple of Tijuana stations, perhaps with this change due to the mortarium on broadcasting in the VHF frequencies, the 2-13 channels could come through sharp and clear.

Low-power analog stations would still be allowed to broadcast.

Once the converter coupon program is over before this Fall, hopefully, we'll see more converter boxes with better included features such as universal remotes, internal DVRs, media players, Internet streaming video capability, and all the other bells and whistles that weren't allowed under the CECB rules.

HTNut

Pretty sure the digital transition happens at 23:59 6-12-09 but some stations may start turning off analog earlier throughout the day.

What are we at now for people who are unready? 2%? At this point, anyone who hasn't converted their TV probably deserves to have their signals off. I shouldn't be that mean but it's pretty difficult to miss all of the advertisements and billboards on the highway. I'll be watching the news on 6-12-09 for sure for updates.

Lurker Lee

Yeah, I figure it's gonna be like waiting for the millenium to clock in; I really just wanted to know what time to start watching the news . It should make for some interesting news stories. Unfortunately, I do think there will be people who are caught unprepared. I have several elderly relatives that I could see that happening to. (except that they have cable). I can seriously see where any of them would think they have digital tv if they have a digital keypad.

I figure there is going to be a rush on the stores on that Friday as the procrastinators realize it's finally coming .... or that Saturday when they wake up and their tv's don't work! And by then the stores will probably have run out.

Aaron62

I'm surprised not to see any new converters come to the market over the past 6 months but like you said, once the cecb rules are over, everything's fair game. Wonder if the prices will drop after the coupon program is done. $20? It'll show just how much profit was in these things.

I'm willing to bet on the rush too. The percentage of Americans who aren't ready might be a low number but it's still 2-3 million people we're talking about. and how many people have a second or third TV that still needs to be converted?

50-55% of broadcast stations will be transitioning on June 12. That's a lot still.

Jay

That hadn't even dawned on me before but I think you're right.

(If you think about it, pretty much every TV has some form of digital electronics on board.)

DTVuser2009

I would like to assume the same thing which happened to the Cell Phones during their own digital transition from analog (AMPS) to digital (CDMA/GSM) on February 18, 2008. i had an old AMPS mobile phone which didn't quit working then, and didn't for a week or so later. so i would assume it won't be a 'hard off' like it's advertised, but a 'soft off' as stations one by one, turn off their transmitters. i would say there will still be a few laggers behind who leave their stations up on analog for a few days later either way. Keep in mind though that since government REQUIRES EAS alerts on stations, those who cannot receive digital may still have one analog channel to tune to so they can still receive the EAS warnings over TV. it may only be audio with a test pattern like Channel 2 was before the TVGOS channel ended up there.

It won't be like the supposed Y2K scare and be dead at the stroke of midnight. that's unrealistic.

Piggie

Here is the latest thing I have seen. I have not seen a Nielsen report for about a month.
Lake: 3.5 Million Still Not Ready For DTV Switch - 2009-05-13 16:34:50 | Broadcasting & Cable
Basically as time went on from the first of the year, each month fewer and fewer went from not ready to ready. Most people including me, figured that the it would bottom out at 2 to 3 percent would not be ready if we delayed this thing till 2020. That is about where we are.

==

Answering another question.

I can't remenber enough to be specific. But not everyone will turn off analog at exactly the same time on June 12. If I remeber the times right, some will turn off 6 am, some noon, some 6 pm, and some at midnight (11:59).

The only 'stragglers' will be those that have filed with the FCC for what is called "nightlight" service. Where they do basically say on the air with slides, and audio, saying they are the last one on the air. They will show local news, and emergency broadcasts. I can't remember exactly how long they will be on the air like that but only a couple months. Some have even filed to do it on lower power. In a lot of towns, all the stations picked on station then split the money for the power bill for that station.

In my local market Gainesville FL, no one will nightlight. Come June 12th, bye bye. Two of my channels are already gone.

There will be no soft transition at the whim of each station. I am sure if the FCC finds someone doing that they will be fined. And in most circumstance they would get caught.

For example. Lets look at the Tampa FL market. There is WTVT on RF 13 in analog. WEDU is moving to RF13 for their digital. If WTVT just says let goes a few more days for the folks, the folks at WEDU will be on the phone asap, as they will be ready to fire off their digital signal on RF13.

So if you see any stragglers they are either low power that is not required to transition or specifically licensed "nightlight" stations.

Orrymain

Yeah, I think it is mean and off-base. It's one thing to know about it, and it's another thing to actually get it done, and it's not just us. It's getting the coupons out and having the boxes available (see my Out of Converter Boxes post). Money's tight. I think a lot of patience and understanding needs to go here. They are changing something that has been standard since the beginning of TV. This is huge. Older folks aren't necessarily going to understand it. My mother wouldn't if she were still alive. It's easy for those who are younger and spoiled by technology, and not always that easy for others who don't know an antenna from a twitter.

Aaron62

Here you go Piggie:
3.1% of U.S. Homes Still Unready for Digital Transition | Nielsen Wire

Orry, Merritline is selling a converter for $40 (shipped) which means it's basically free after the coupon. As for the transition, there are going to be those that will never be ready but I'm really under the impression now that if it doesn't happen in June, it's going to be a huge waste of money again to post pone and force TV stations to broadcast both analog and digital. This all costs money.