And by D-Day I mean Digital Conversion Day for television. At midnight on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2009, all analog television signals will be shut off and everything will be digital transmissions.
So what does this mean for you? Well, if you get TV through cable or satellite, then not a whole lot. You should not notice any change at all. However, if you get your TV from an over-the-air signal, meaning through a rabbit-ears antenna, then you will get no signal at all without a digital conversion box.
"So how do I get one of those?" you may be asking yourself. Well - you have to buy one, and they cost anywhere from $50 - $80. BUT! If you go to this website, https://www.dtv2009.gov/, you can request up to TWO lovely $40 vouchers from the good ol' government. You can also request some if you have cable or satellite, just people with no TV service will get preference.
So there you go. Now you can feel informed because apparently less than half of the country knows this is coming.
4 comments:
I heard something about this. Is there any reason why we should try to get those vouchers if we have cable?
No, not really. Some people are requesting them anyway, but you really probably won't need it.
The best way to tell would be call your cable company and ask if they'll be ready and if there's anything you'll need to do. It might be interesting to see what their response is!
Who gets their TV from an antenna anymore...?
You mean besides Natalie and I? I have to admit I'm a little disgruntled about the Man telling me to buy more stuff if I want to watch "Dancing with the Stars". I think some TV companies (Samsung, Sony, etc) managed to lobby this into effect.
I am really tempted to see the "turn-off" actually happen, but we may ditch our old set when we move.
That's very nice of the government to give coupons to the American people for the purchase of the converter boxes. I wonder if it comes from the taxes paid by the American people or the extra leases of EM spectrum enabled by these shananigans. If that's the case I'll expect another check the next year! I'm on to you government people! I've been reading Ron Paul! (Seriously.)
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