TELEVISION
Time is ticking for owners of analog TVs
South Florida TV stations will switch their signals to digital -- temporarily -- on Monday. The change will be permanent Feb. 17.
BY GLENN GARVIN
ggarvin@MiamiHerald.com
If your television erupts into wavy color lines and voice-of-doom instructions to call a toll-free number Monday, don't worry -- it's not a nuclear attack or a space-alien invasion. It just means your set isn't ready for the switch to digital broadcasting signals scheduled for next year.
Preparing for the changeover, South Florida TV stations will move their programming to the new digital signal twice, for two minutes apiece, on Monday -- at 6:20 a.m. and 6:20 p.m. Viewers whose sets are digital-ready shouldn't notice a thing.
Meanwhile, the analog signal -- the one that will be shut down for good on Feb. 17 -- will carry only the warning message that directs viewers to a toll-free number (1-877-388-5353) and a website (dtv.gov) for help.
Viewers who watch TV using a cable box or a satellite dish (as about 90 percent of Americans do) shouldn't have to do anything to prepare for the switch to digital. But televisions connected only to antennas -- whether on the roof or the set itself -- must be hooked to digital converters to continue receiving signals after Feb. 17.
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