Nearly 700 US TV stations to end analogue service next week

Nearly 700 US television stations plan to end analogue broadcasts next week, despite a decision by the US Congress to push back the switch to digital-only service until June. 

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in a public notice posted on its website on Tuesday, listed 681 television stations which plan to end analogue signal broadcasts on Tuesday.

There are some 1,800 television stations in the United States. Major TV networks such as ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC are not among those planning to cut off their analogue broadcasts next week. 17 February was the date set for the nationwide shift to digital-only television, but Congress last week extended the date until 12 June. Stations which notified the FCC by Monday of plans to end analogue service next week will be allowed to do so, however.

President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill shortly. Before he took office, Obama’s transition team had called for delaying the switch to digital, arguing that many people were not yet ready for the end of analogue broadcasting by the major US television networks.

The government has been providing Americans who rely on over-the-air signals with a $40 coupon to defray the cost of buying a digital  converter box. But the coupon program has run out of funds and, according to research firm Nielsen Co, more than 6.5 million American households are not prepared for the switch. Many of the unprepared are low-income households, minorities, seniors or disabled, according to Nielsen. 

The switch to digital television will free up wireless airwaves for public safety agencies and other advanced mobile services.