What you need to know about the switch to digital

In one year from now the way you’ve always watched television is going to change. But you might not even notice a difference. On February 17, 2009 analog television broadcasting is going to switch over the digital.

Customers are confused about what the switch is going to mean for them. Robert Dunton of Volney said he is not sure what is going to do. “So for me the option is throw all the TV sets away and don’t even use them or maybe go digital. But I’m really angry about digital.” He said he is most frustrated about not knowing who is responsible. “If I knew who was responsible I would like to mount a campaign to vote them all out of office.”

Estimates have been as high as 21 million households with analog television. But recent estimates put the number at 13 million. There are about 55,000 households that get analog signal in Syracuse.

Television repair stores have been receiving lots of phone calls from people who think they will lose their television signal. Television repairman Anthony Palmisano said he is trying to ease people’s concern. “I had a lady the other week, she’s almost crying. My TVs not going to work. I said do you have cable. Yes. We’ll it’s going to work. You made my whole day. That’s what I’m getting at.”

People are mainly confused about who is affected. If you have cable or satellite the switch over will not affect you. But for those who get their television through rabbit ears or antenna will need to make changes. These changes could include purchasing a converter box, upgrading to satellite or cable or a digital television with a built in tuner. The government is providing vouchers for converter boxes. Each household can file for two vouchers, each valued at $40. They cannot be combined in purchasing a converter box and expire after 3 months.

The biggest beneficiaries of the switch should be television retailers and the cable companies. Bill Alsip works at best buy and he said customers with analog television sets are coming in to buy new television. “And many of them are using this as an excuse to buy a new television.”

Time Warner Cable is also expecting new customers because of the switch over.

More information about the switch is available at dtvanswers.com.