Consumers who receive over-the-air television signals through antennas on television sets that are equipped with analog tuners – and who do not subscribe to cable, satellite or a telephone company television service provider – will be affected by the transition.
At least 19.6 million households receive over-the-air signals exclusively in their homes, and 14.9 million households have secondary over-the-air television sets in their bedrooms or kitchens.
Overall, nearly 70 million television sets are at risk of losing their signals on June 12, 2009, if consumers do not make the easy transition to DTV.
Consumers who receive free, over-the-air broadcasting on analog sets will have three options for continuing their television service:
- Purchase a DTV converter box that will convert the digital signal into analog for an existing TV set; - Purchase a new television set with a built-in digital tuner; or - Subscribe to cable, satellite or a telephone company television service provider if all desired local broadcast stations are carried by that service.
Additionally, while full power TV stations will no longer broadcast in analog after the transition, some low power stations will remain in analog. Watching both analog and digital broadcasting after the transition may require specific equipment -- in some cases a "pass through" converter box that allows both analog and digital signals to reach your TV set.
