Channel 7's analog feed went off the air after the noon news broadcast.
(Credit: John P. Falcone/CNET)Updated Monday, June 15, at 9 a.m. PDT with post-weekend channel status.
When we last checked in with the local analog TV band, it was the afternoon of Friday, June 12 (scroll down for the original post). Some analog channels had dropped off the grid, while others were flagging their imminent demise. About 72 hours later, with the DTV transition deadline firmly behind us, we rescanned the spectrum to see what we could pull in. Only a handful of analog channels are still standing:
Channel 2 (WCBS): Running a public service announcement in English and Spanish on how to obtain and set up a DTV converter box. (This programming is only on the analog station; the digital one is running the standard CBS feed.)
Channel 4 (WNBC): Running the same public service announcement as WCBS. (This programming is only on the analog station; the digital one is running the standard NBC feed.)
Channel 17 (WEBR): This affiliate of religious broadcaster Global Christian Network is up and running. (It may be a low-power broadcaster, meaning it's exempt from the shutdown for the time being.)
Channel 46 (WMBQ): This affiliate of religious broadcaster Cornerstone TV is a low-power broadcaster, and thus currently exempt from the shutdown.
Channel 60 (W60AI): This Home Shopping Network affiliate is a low-power broadcaster, and thus currently exempt from the shutdown.
It's also worth noting that some of the digital stations have moved. For instance, the WABC digital stations are now broadcasting on RF channel 7 (where the analog station used to be located) instead of channel 45. Likewise, many stations seem to have boosted their digital signal strength, now that they don't have to worry about interfering with their analog counterparts.
Both cases reinforce the importance of rescanning your available channels, so those changes can be detected by the digital tuner. Also, as some stations move from UHF to VHF locations, you may need to reorient your antenna--or you may need to get a new one that pulls in both frequencies. (Indeed, while DTV converter boxes seem to be in plentiful supply, antenna issues and shortages have been one of the notable problems of the transition.)
The original post--which includes links to resources for anyone who remains confused about the transition--follows:
... Read moreCongratulations! You've successfully made the switch from analog to digital TV. So is it good-bye to rabbit ears? Not quite!
Retro TV antennas may not bring in a perfect picture, but they can bring back some great memories.
(Credit: CBS)Whatever your view of television, be it couch potato casual or flat-screen fanatic, Friday was a special occasion. And even if you didn't give it the kind of warm reception some Chicago students did on Friday night, complete with champagne toasts, you knew it was the end of an era, if for no other reason than all those incessant reminders we've been giving you, like "The Big Switch From Analog To Digital TV" or "Flipping The Switch To Digital TV".
In these days of cable and satellite, you probably thought it was time for a requiem for the old rabbit ears. Not so fast.
"The antenna is alive and well," said Michael Godar, who runs one of the nation's few handmade antenna companies out of a TV repair shop in Gilbert, Ariz.
And he says that, even at the dawn of the Digital Age, there's plenty of life in that old antenna.
"There was almost a sport (in) adjusting your antenna on your TV," Sieberg said.
"Oh yeah, battling it--you know, especially when you had a remote control," Godar laughed. "You'd change the channel and then get up, adjust the antenna!"
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New York City over-the-air analog TV stations went dark for two minutes today. The prescheduled test gave a temporary taste of what's planned when the stations permanently pull the analog plug on February 17, 2009.
The two minute test occurred between 5:58 and 6:00 p.m. ET, and--in the case of WCBS, at least--was accompanied by a countdown timer and an explanation narrated by the onscreen newscaster. (The test was in the middle of the local news.)
We monitored the over-the-air digital (HD) and analog feeds, and the analog one cut-off right on schedule, dumping to a "this is a test" warning crawl, while the digital feed continued unabated. (See the video above, with color commentary provided by CNET TV guru David Katzmaier.)
Simultaneously, we were monitoring the local DirecTV and Time-Warner Cable feeds as well. In both cases, the WCBS feed was also uninterrupted (even though it was the standard-definition transmission).
In other words--for our sister CBS station, anyway--the test seemed to go as planned, with only analog antenna viewers seeing the warning screen. Anyone watching on cable, satellite, or over-the-air digital--including those using DTV converter boxes to watch programming on their old sets--should have been blissfully unaware of the test pattern.
Now that the broadcasters have demonstrated that they can do this--target only the antenna-viewing audience that will actually be affected by this change--I think they should amp up these sort of tests. Reports indicate that a huge swath of the antenna-viewing public is still woefully unprepared for the DTV switchover, but if they start getting increasingly invasive test patterns during their favorite shows, I think the message will start to hit home.
If you still get your TV programming from an antenna and you're confused about the forthcoming changes, be sure to check out our Quick Guide to the DTV Transition.
Can an analog TiVo be used to access digital cable?
(Credit: TiVo) Hi--I've read your articles on Comcast/TiVo, but I'm still puzzled by the Comcast/TiVo connection. I have basic Comcast cable (haven't upgraded to digital cable yet) and I'm running two TiVo Series 2 DVRs (no cable boxes at all). Can I upgrade to Comcast digital cable service and keep my current TiVos or will I be forced to use Comcast's DVRs or Comcast's TiVo software? I asked Comcast numerous times and 50 percent of the time they say I can use my current setup and 50 percent of the time they say "no, you need to upgrade the DVR equipment." Can you shed any light on this? (In my zip code in Chicago, Comcast doesn't yet offer Comcast DVR with TiVo service).
--Nathan in Chicago, via e-mail.
Good question, Nathan. Keep in mind that you're not likely to be able to keep using your existing all-analog solution for much longer. That's because many cable systems throughout the U.S. are in the process of upgrading their system to accommodate a larger line-up of digital channels. (For each bandwidth-hogging analog channel dropped, a cable system can add at several digital channels, which use bandwidth more efficiently.)
While these changes aren't directly related to the February 2009 analog shut off (that only affects over-the-air broadcast viewers), a lot of cable systems will be using the resulting "end of analog TV" publicity and confusion to woo their customers to digital service. Once a cable system goes all-digital, devices with analog tuners--Series 2 TiVos, analog TVs, VCRs, and DVD recorders--will no longer get a signal when you plug the RF cable from the wall directly into them. Instead, you'll need a digital cable box in the mix, which will convert the digital signals back to analog (via the RF/coaxial, composite, or S-Video output).
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