BROADCASTING: TV providers to shut off analog signal
Staff Reports The Tonawanda News
Providers for all broadcast television in the area will be turning off the switch in a few weeks, albeit just for a few minutes.
The goal is to get any remaining people who use an antenna to tune into free broadcast stations to purchase a converter box in advance of the nation’s switch to a digital signal. The change will take place Feb. 17, at which point no antenna will work without a DTV converter.
Included in the test — which will not interrupt service for cable, Verizon FiOS or satellite customers — are the following stations and providers: WGRZ, WIVB, WKBW, WNED, WNGS, WNLO, WNYB, WNYO, WPXJ, WUTV, Time Warner Cable, DIRECTV, Dish Network, Atlantic Broadband Cable, and Verizon.
All of these stations will go dark from 6:28 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 15 and Jan. 15. According to WKBW-TV President and General Manager Bill Ransom, who is acting as chairman of the group of broadcasters involved in the operation, these “soft tests” will hopefully draw the attention of those who have not yet purchased the converter box, despite months of commercials and screen crawlers from providers advising viewers of the necessity to do so.
“The goal is to make sure that everyone in our (market) will be able to receive digital signals,” Ransom said.
Nielsen, the television monitoring company, reports that 10 percent of the analog televisions in the Buffalo market still do not have the necessary converter box.
Viewers affected by the shut-off will receive information on how to get a converter box and operators at a call center will be available to answer specific questions people have. That number is 1-888-DTV-2009. More information can also be found online at www.dtvanswers.com.
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