Analog Television Ends at Midnight

IRONWOOD, MI - February 17, 2009 - At 11:59 PM tonight, locally broadcast television stations will end standard analog broadcasting. That means if you are using an analog TV and antenna to watch television, you will need to hook up a digital converter box in order to keep your picture. In other words if you pick up your television signals without using either cable or satellite dish, you will need to install a converter box.

Stores like Radio Shack and Best Buy have been offering converter boxes and the government has been supplying coupons that will allow consumers to get them for nothing.

To make things easier for those who need to convert their signals, we have added the following check list:

  1. The switch from analog to digital begins with a converter box and antenna. If you already have an antenna on your roof, it may work for digital TV. If not, you can buy an indoor UHF antenna or one for your roof.
  2. You need to connect the cable that enters your house to the "Antenna In" on your converter box.
  3. Then take the cable that was supplied with the converter box. Run it from the TV out connection on the box to the antenna in connection on your TV.
  4. Next, you need to know what channel the converter box is set to output a signal on, and that's the channel you want to tune your television to.
  5. When you turn your box on for the first time, you will be automatically directed to the set up menu. Use the remote control to enter your information and scan for available channels. The converter box, when it's powered up, doesn't automatically know what channels are available. You have to tell it to do that.
  6. If you have done everything correctly, you should have a picture on your television set.

If you did not prepare to make the change to digital, you need to act fast, because after midnight tonight, the picture on your television screen will turn to static unless you have cable or a satellite dish.

You can reach the FCC's digital TV hotline at 1-888-CALL-FCC. An informational (and rather humerous) video on making the change from analog to digital can be found on the lower left-hand column on our front page, and at the beginning of this article.