Local TV will be unaffected during switch to digital

Feds delay conversion

In recent months television watchers have been bombarded by commercials about the digital conversion that was supposed to happen on February 17.  Well there will be a few more months of commercials, as this week Congress decided to postpone the conversion until June.  

 Now broadcast television signals will have to switch to a digital format on June 12.  The new presidential administration under Barack Obama asked Congress to postpone the conversion.  The Senate voted in favor of the postponement on Monday, and the House voted on Tuesday.    
Regardless of when the digital conversion actually happens, people in the Gunnison Valley won’t need to buy a new TV set, and TV isn’t going to suddenly disappear for those still using an antenna.
In the long run, the digital conversion will have the most effect on viewers who receive their television programming by using an antenna to pick up local broadcast signals. The Gunnison County Metropolitan Recreation District (Met Rec) currently provides this free broadcast television service, and will continue to use an analog signal over its system of antennas.
Met Rec business manager Lori Patin says, “everything will remain status quo. The district has been down-linking digital satellite signals and changing them back to analog at the front end.”
Time Warner Cable offers a cable subscription service in the Gunnison Valley and also converts the digital signal back to analog for its customers. According to Time Warner’s director of public affairs Ann Shrewsbury, “As long as you have cable hooked up on your television, it won’t be a problem.”
Television viewers who use DirecTV or Dish receive a digital signal through a home-installed satellite dish. The cable boxes that accompany these services are able to convert the digital signal back to analog for older TVs.
Patin says Met Rec’s television service does not fall under the digital compliance act. “The digital conversion mandate is for full-power television stations and not translator systems,” Patin says. She says the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has not mandated any changes for translator or low-power broadcast systems like Met Rec’s.
 However, Patin says, the Met Rec board of directors is pursuing grant funding to upgrade to a digital translator system. But translator towers cost about $10,000 each to install. With a system of 50 translator towers across Gunnison County, it could cost half a million dollars to upgrade the entire system, she says.
Local TV watchers using Met Rec’s analog signal may need to get new equipment once the system is upgraded to digital. If those television viewers are using an older TV, the potential Met Rec system upgrade might require the installation of a digital-to-analog converter box.
Viewers could also buy a new TV and forego the converter box. The FCC has mandated that all new televisions sold must have built-in digital tuners.
Patin says the FCC is still offering coupons for digital-to-analog converter boxes. The coupons are good for $40 off the price of a converter box (which range from $40 to $70). More information about the coupons can be found at www.dtv2009.gov, or by calling 1-888-388-2009.
The digital conversion mandate was passed by an act of U.S. Congress in 1996.
Over-the-air television signals currently occupy a portion of what is called the broadcast spectrum, which includes AM/FM radio signals, police and emergency response radios and scanners.
The conversion is meant to free up space in the broadcast spectrum for other uses. More information about the digital conversion can be found at www.dtv.gov.