About a quarter of the nation's TV stations cut off their analog signals Tuesday, causing setsto go dark in households that were not prepared for digital television despite two years ofwarnings about the transition.
Though most viewers were ready - and people with cable or satellite service were unaffected -some stations and call centers reported a steady stream of questions from frustrated callers. Manywondered how to get coupons for converter boxes that translate digital signals for older TVs - orhow to get the devices working.
"It's kind of an irritation, but I understand that everyone will have a much better picture.As far as I was concerned, they could have left things the way they were," said Dorothy Delegard,67, of Minneapolis, who bought a converter box because a friend gave her a coupon that expiresTuesday.
Phones were ringing off the hook at a walk-in information center set up by stations inProvidence, R.I.
A volunteer at the center, Jeremy Taylor, said he tried to calm agitated callers and explainthe reasons for the disappearance of analog signals, which have remained largely unchanged sincethe 1950s.
"I try to explain that the digital switch is not something we're doing to extort them ofmoney," Taylor said.
The federal government mandated the end of analog broadcasts to make room on thosefrequencies for wireless Internet service, emergency radio traffic and other uses. Digital TVbroadcasts, which began several years ago, take up much less of the wireless spectrum.
Originally, all U.S. stations were to cut their analog signals on Tuesday, but at the urgingof the Obama administration, Congress voted this month to give broadcasters more time.
Most stations, particularly those in big cities, accepted the offer to wait until June 12.Others wanted to stick to Feb. 17, a date they had spent much airtime advertising. Many of them hadalso booked engineering work on their antennas for that day.
The Federal Communications Commission, which wanted to ensure that no one would be entirelydeprived of analog signals, cleared 421 stations to go all-digital this week. Another 220 stationshave already made the switch, including all stations in Hawaii.
The most populous places where many or all major-network stations are cutting analog thisweek include San Diego and Santa Barbara, Calif.; La Crosse and Madison, Wis.; Rockford and Peoria,Ill.; Sioux City, Iowa; Waco, Texas; Macon, Ga.; Scranton, Pa.; Rhode Island and Vermont.
In most cases, one station in each of those markets will continue sending analog signalsuntil June or will offer a
so-called "analog nightlight" for a few months, with limited local news and emergencybroadcasts, as well as information about the digital TV transition.
The back-and-forth over the cutoff date threw both TV stations and viewers for a loop.
Jeff Long, manager of WHKY-TV, an independent station in Hickory, N.C., said the company'sanalog shutdown went smoothly on Saturday, but some viewers complained that they thought it hadbeen postponed until June 12.
RadioShack Corp. circulars in newspapers this weekend had the opposite message, saying Feb.17 was still the date for the end of analog TV. Spokeswoman Mary Delagarza said the fliers had beenprepared two months in advance and could not be pulled.
Congress delayed the cutoff in large part because the fund that pays for $40 converter-boxcoupons had reached its spending limit. Coupons are now being issued only as fast as old onesexpire unused.
The stimulus bill that President Barack Obama signed Tuesday contains $650 million inadditional funding. Once that money becomes available, it can clear the backlog of 4 millioncoupons in a few weeks. Without a coupon, a converter box costs $45 to $80.
Joe Glynn, vice president of engineering at PBS affiliate WVIA-TV near Scranton, Pa., saidthe station got a dozen calls in the past two days about its planned changeover at 11:59 p.m.Tuesday. The converter boxes have been a frequent subject.
"Unfortunately, some of them have asked how you get the coupons for the converter box. Someof them have called asking us if we sell converter boxes. Others are calling and saying 'I got theconverter, but I'm not getting anything on it' - I'm assuming because they don't have it hooked upright," he said.
He said most callers acknowledge that they only have themselves to blame for procrastinating.
"Everybody admits it's their fault. They knew it was coming," he said. "Some people seemed tobe mad at themselves for not doing something sooner."
Even converter boxes that are correctly installed may drop some channels. That's becauseapart from killing analog, many stations are also changing to new digital frequencies. Viewers whowere already watching the digital signal, either through a converter box or a digital TV set, willlose the channel until they force the device to "rescan" the airwaves.
In addition, many households will find that they need new antennas. Digital signals generallycome in better than analog ones, but they are not received well by some older antennas. SpokeswomanLea Sloan at PBS said that a rising number of calls to member stations are from people who aregetting digital signals, but not all the ones they want.
