What kind of TV do have in your house? Do you subscribe to cable or do you use an antenna? The impact "February 17th, 2009" will have on your life, depends on the answers to these questions. In our final report on "making the digital switch," i take a look at viewers' options in preparing for that day... when analog t-v transmissions cease forever.
Countdown clocks can look so foreboding, though this clock does not lead to doom or destruction. But if you're not prepared, it could lead to an enormous amount of frustration. It counts down to midnight, February 17th, 2009, the congressionaly mandated deadline for full-power television stations to shutdown their analog signals.
"I can guarantee you one thing, on Feb. 17th our phones are going to be flooded with thousands of people going - 'What happened to my favorite show.' "
"So, if you already own a digital TV, you will *not* be one of those people. You're already receiving the digital transmission. Likewise, you will not lose your signal if you subscribe to cable or dish. Those services convert analog to digital for you. But if you own an older TV and receive your signal over the air, from an antenna, and in the north state that describes more than 30-thousand homes, you *will* lose your TV programming unless you take one of several possible steps."
The good news is, you do *not* need to buy a new television. But you do need to buy an "analog-to-digital" converter box to connect to your old analog TV.
"It's small, simple. And this becomes your tuner instead of the one in your television. This is what you use to change channels with."
You can buy these converters at home electronics stores for $50 - $70 dollars *and* the government will give you a free $40 dollar coupon to help pay for it, actually two per household. they're very simple to hook up and you'll now be able to receive the CW-10 and the Accuweather channel. You can skip the converter box if you'd rather go the cable or dish route. Currently about 16-percent of television viewers in the north state do not receive cable or satellite. Comcast officials know that number will likely shrink with the digital switch.
"Certainly we could get more subscribers with the transition. There are option and we're one of them, and we're happy to educate people as to what those options are and that we're a good one, we feel, if they want to take advantage of it."
And last, but definitely *not* least, you can dip into your savings or pull out that credit card and get yourself a new digital TV.
"I would say that if you watch more than three hours of tv a day, save your pennies and go out and buy yourself a good high definition television. The price of these things have dropped dramatically."
These days, a new digital TV can actually cost as little as four or five hundred dollars. If you convert for inflation, a brand new color TV 45 years ago would have cost you ten times that. And the picture quality, well there's just no comparison.
"Your TV isn't just a television any more, it's a viewing experience. When you're watching that football game you're in the action, you are on the sidelines."
Whatever you do, don't ignore this clock, or come February 17th, you'll miss out on all the action... Entirely.
