By this time next week, analog television will be a thing of the past. TV stations are stepping up their efforts to make sure people are ready.

"We know that nearly everyone is aware of the digital transition, and many people are really tired of hearing about it," said Hank Price, the president and general manager of WXII. "I'd be very surprised if we have anything more than a handful of people who lose total TV service."

On Friday, TV stations that have not already done so will turn off their analog signals and switch to all-digital broadcasts. People who get their TV from cable or satellite won't notice any difference, but those who watch TV over the air will need to either have a TV set with a built-in digital ATSC tuner, or use a digital converter box that converts the signal to analog.

Nationwide, about 19.6 million households get only over-the-air signals. Another 14.9 million households have at least one TV set that does not have cable.
About 82 percent of those homes are ready for the change, meaning that they have a converter or newer TV set, the National Association of Broadcasters said.

Are you Ready?
NBC17-WNCN will host a phone bank each evening this week. Watch it live online and call in with your questions between 6 and 8 p.m. at 1-888-309-7437.

A converter-box program has been in place since 2008 to provide $40 coupons for consumers. The cost of the converter boxes is generally in the $50 to $60 range. Delays in getting coupons to people led the government to push back the digital transition from February to June 12, but some stations - including two in the Triad, WXLV and WMYV - switched early.

The other stations in the Triad decided to wait until next Friday. WFMY will make the switch at 10 a.m. WGHP will make the switch at the end of its 10 p.m. newscast. WXII will be the last to switch, at 11:59 p.m.

Ron Inman, the general manager of WXLV and WMYV, said that the early transition at his stations had gone smoothly. "We initially took about 250 calls in the first two weeks, and helped people through that."

The first few days, the stations had five engineers on hand to talk people through hooking up their converter boxes and adjusting their antennas.

Since then, the number of calls has slowed to a trickle, with only one or two calls a week, he said.

He said that many of the calls WXLV/WMYV has gotten have been from the northwestern parts of the Piedmont, including places behind Pilot Mountain and areas with other interference from mountains or valleys. "It's primarily an antenna situation," Inman said. "The only way they can get around it at this point in time is by going higher."

Unlike analog signals, which can sometimes be tuned in from a distance with fuzzy images, digital signals have what is known as a "cliff effect," cutting off suddenly at a certain distance from the broadcast tower.

"You either have a full digital picture or no picture," Price said. "With a marginal signal, you don't realize it because the picture is perfect. With analog, you'd see ghosts and snow, or have the picture rolling."

"Half the people I've talked to are having trouble," said Phil Wilson, the owner of Big TVs/Church Radio and TV Service in North Wilkesboro. "Sometimes it's because of their equipment not being up to date, or they don't have it hooked up correctly."

But other times, he said, the signals seem to come and go.

"It doesn't seem to be good for the public, and that's what broadcasting is all about, satisfying the public" he said.

Joyce Eller of Purlear found that she couldn't pick up digital broadcasts because she lives in a valley.

"I just had to go to cable," she said. "That cost me something I didn't have to pay before, and a lot of people are in a situation where they can't afford extra for cable every month."

But even closer to the broadcast towers, some people are having trouble getting a signal.

Ann Stultz, a Winston-Salem resident, was getting three stations on her antenna TV sets on analog.

"Now, I only get channel 12 in the bedroom," she said, and she hasn't been able to pick up any channels on her other sets. WXII engineers subsequently got in touch to help with her antenna set-up.

Each of the TV stations in the Triad has engineers available to help people who are having problems either setting up their converter boxes or adjusting their antennas.
Charlie Layno, the transmitter supervisor at WGHP, said that most of the calls he has been getting recently have been from people 30 and under. "The 50-plus people have been ready for a while," he said.

WGHP is the only station in the Triad that will be broadcasting in VHF (very high frequency) after the transition; the other stations will all be in UHF (ultra high frequency), which uses a different type of antenna. Most antennas that people were using for their analog signals pick up both VHF and UHF, and will still work.

"If they've got a good analog signal now, they should have no problems," Layno said.

WXII and WFMY will keep their analog transmitters on for 30 days after the transition, broadcasting short videos in English and Spanish about what people who are still getting analog signals need to do. "It explains a little bit about the antennas, how to scan for channels, and the basics about making DTV work," said David Reeve, the director of marketing at WFMY.

Where to get help
The Federal Communications Commission has a phone number and Web site:
• National call center: 888-CALL-FCC (225-5322) or Dtvanswers.com.
• Converter-Box Coupons: Coupons are still available. They take nine business days for delivery, and must be used within 90 days. Each coupon is worth $40, and two can be requested per household.
To get one go to, www.dtv2009.gov/.
ApplyCoupon.aspx or call 888-388-2009.
• SIGNALS: The FCC also has a Web site where you can put in your location and find out how strong the digital TV signals.
should be for stations in your area: www.fcc.gov.

Related Links

1. For the latest updates on the local DTV conversion, read the DTV blog by NBC17's Russell Mizelle.
2. More DTV information