Digital TV Transition Day is Here Finally

By Richard Hay, on June 12th, 2009

After a much publicized delay authorized four months ago the Digital TV Transition has finally arrived.

Effective at 12:01 AM last night the transition has started and according to the governments Digital TV site about 43% of TV stations have made the move to a digital broadcast as of the time of this posting (7AM Central European Time/1AM Eastern Standard Time).

One area that is highlighted at the DTV site is about Low Power Television Stations making the transition later:

Please note that the June 12, 2009 DTV transition deadline does not apply to low-power television (LPTV) stations. The FCC will determine a deadline for these stations to transition to digital at a future date. Learn more about LPTV.

One other recommendation they make is to scan channels throughout the day as different stations will move their channels over to digital at various times throughout the day on 12 June:

NOTE: Many stations will be changing channels at various times during the day on June 12, 2009. Be sure to scan for channel changes as convenient on that day and particularly on June 13 after all stations have changed to their final DTV channels.

Another very informative area is the most popular FAQ’s at the DTV site which I have listed below for quick access and reference:

Top FAQs

Can I Still Use My Old Analog TV Set? How?

Can I Use My UHF/VHF Antenna to Receive DTV?

Does the DTV Transition Affect TV Sets That Are Connected to Cable Services?

How Do I Improve DTV Signal Strength?

What Converter Boxes Are Eligible in the Coupon Program?

Can DTV Reception be Affected by Moving Vehicles and Weather?

How do I connect my portable, battery-powered analog TV to a battery-powered digital-to-analog converter box?

So are you experiencing any problems with the DTV shift today?

Richard Hay (3358 Posts)

Richard is the Owner of WindowsObserver.com and has been involved in tech for over 25 years. His first website – AnotherWin95.com – came online in 1995. Back then he used GeoCities Web Hosting for it and what you see here today is the result of the work he has continued on the site since 1995. In January 2010 his community contributions were recognized by Microsoft when he was awarded the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) Award for Windows Desktop Experience. In January 2011 he was renewed as a Microsoft MVP but in a new category called Windows Expert - Consumer and in January 2012 he received the award for the third time.

This post first appeared on WindowsObserver.com. If you enjoyed it please make sure you subscribe to the RSS feed and join our Facebook Fan Page to stay up to date.