Key Issues
Digital Television
Transition — Get Ready for January 2009
Information Provided by the National Cable & Telecommunications
Association
With the nation’s broadcast TV stations now preparing to
switch to an all digital system in 2009, the U.S. cable industry
has launched an extensive consumer education campaign –
including
TV advertising valued at $200 million – to alert cable and non-cable
viewers about the change.
Beginning on February 17, 2009, over-the-air television stations
will broadcast in a digital-only format. This means that millions
of analog TV sets will no longer display broadcast TV signals unless
they are connected to cable, another video service, or to a special
digital-to-analog converter that will be available from retailers
in early 2008.
The good news for cable customers is that the digital transition
should be easy. Thanks to a compromise adopted by the FCC in September
2007, cable companies will carry the main digital signal of “must
carry” commercial broadcast TV stations and will duplicate that signal
into analog format so that all channels can be viewed on any older
analog TV sets connected to cable.
Cable’s carriage of the signals in both digital and analog formats
will ensure that all customers will see commercial broadcast TV signals
after the transition. This approach will make the digital transition
effortless for all cable customers and provide valuable assistance
to commercial TV stations trying to reach all of the homes in their
region.
While cable systems will work to ensure that their customers are
ready for the transition, education of all Americans remains critical.
Research shows that most Americans aren’t aware of the digital TV
transition, so cable’s Get Ready for Digital TV campaign is alerting
viewers to this dramatic change and providing simple and practical
information so viewers can be prepared.
Learn more. |
