Confusion Reigns As Analog TV Begins Shutdown

As TV stations across the country switch off their analog signals, uncertainty reigns. Some 691 stations will have converted to digital broadcasting by midnight tonight (some interpreted the mandate as going digital by Feb. 17, not during Feb. 17, and shut down yesterday). This represents about a third of TV broadcasters nationwide. No one can say how many of the estimated 5.8 million households unready for the transition are in areas served by the stations that are switching now. The FCC added to the uncertainty by imposing extra conditions, making it unclear until last Friday exactly which stations would be switching at the beginning of the transition period. The article quotes a former analyst at Barclays Capital who said the whole process has been "botched politically."

Comments

Re:Revolt

[bfwebster]

If you've never read it, go read "The Machine Stops" by E. M. Forster. It was published 100 years ago and still remains remarkably relevant and prescient. ..bruce..

I watched two of my local ones blink out

[Waffle Iron]

...it was actually kind of entertaining. The station that stopped last night had some fun and went old-school. They announced the end of the broadcast day (for good), played the national anthem over patriotic images of the flag.

After that, they put up the old Indian Head test pattern and audio tone for a couple of minutes. At the stroke of midnight, it cut to static. It was just like nightly sign-offs when I was a little kid, and it almost made me misty-eyed.

The one that went out this afternoon showed a bunch of snippets from the past 50 years, then they showed a live coverage of one of their engineers out in the transmitter shack pushing the "OFF" button. The instant cut to static was good for a laugh.