The Change Begins In Amarillo

This is the year that the United States is supposed to switch from analog television transmissions to digital transmissions. That changeover was supposed to happen on February 17th, when all TV stations would stop broadcasting the analog transmissions (most stations are broadcasting both kinds at the current time).

But much of the change has been delayed. A couple of weeks ago, President Obama and Congress decided to delay the change until June 12th. They were afraid that around 6 million people were still not ready, and would be unable to receive the new digital TV signals. The new law allowed and encouraged the stations to continue analog broadcasts until June, but did not force them to do so.

So, Tuesday night at midnight, one Amarillo TV station will go ahead and cut its analog signal off. KACV, the public broadcasting station, will go completely digital. But they are doing it just to be contrary. Their analog transmitter is very old and has been having problems. It is currently not broadcasting at its full power. The station says they would have to spend money to repair the analog transmitter if they had to continue the broadcasts until June, and they simply can't afford to do that.

One station, KVII (ABC), has already announced they will continue analog broadcasts until June 12th. KAMR (NBC), KCIT (Fox) and KFDA (CBS) have said they will continue the analog broadcasts, but have not announced whether they will continue them all the way to June 12th.

If you are not yet ready to receive the digital signal, it is time to get ready. Tuesday night, the first channel will disappear from your set. There is no guarantee that others won't follow suit before the official switchover date in June. And don't expect Congress to delay the switch again. They needed two votes to get it done this time.

Frankly, this is something that needs to happen. It will not only give viewers a better picture, but much of the bandwith being vacated will be used for emergency services. We shouldn't delay any longer.

That may sound mean, since the argument is that the people not ready are the poor and the elderly. I'm not sure I believe that, but even if it is true, that doesn't matter. When the signal disappears, they will find a way to go digital. They need to just go ahead and do it.