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Soft tests set for digital TV switch(Palm Beach Post, The (FL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Dec. 5--The plug won't be pulled on analog television signals until mid-February, but if you're still watching with rabbit ears Monday, there will be brief interruptions of your service. The two-minute interruptions are called "shutoff tests" and are to remind viewers who do not have cable or satellite TV that their analog sets will not work starting at midnight Feb. 17. That is when antennas atop older televisions become useless as broadcasters start airing programs only in the digital format. Five West Palm Beach-area stations -- WPTV (NBC), WPEC (CBS), WPBF (ABC), WFLX (Fox) and WXEL (PBS) -- will participate in the 6:20 a.m. analog shut-off tests on Monday. All, except WXEL, also will participate in a second test at 6:20 p.m. that day. WXEL's second test will occur at 6:57 p.m. The stations' signals broadcast as far south as Boca Raton and as far north as Sebastian. Beth Horowitz, marketing director for WFLX, said the stations may participate in additional tests on subsequent Mondays. Although Horowitz said data shows that only 3.1 percent of the West Palm Beach television market's households rely exclusively on analog television, federal regulatory officials are concerned that senior and low-income households represent a disproportionate number of that percentage. Also, officials are unclear about how many of those consumers have TVs with digital tuners. The Federal Communications Commission has required digital tuners in sets 35 inches or larger since July 2005. Televisions that are 25 inches or larger were required to be sold with the tuners installed starting in March 2006. All TVs, regardless of size, purchased after March 2008 should contain digital tuners. To see more of The Palm Beach Post -- including its homes, jobs, cars and other classified listings -- or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.palmbeachpost.com. Copyright (c) 2008, The Palm Beach Post, Fla. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |