U.S. Switch To All Digital TV The Biggest Change To The Medium In Six Decades

Television has covered many historic events over the years, but on Friday as many as two million people across the border won’t be able to see one that will have a profound effect on their viewing habits.

This is the day analog TV comes to an end in the U.S.

It’s the end of an era that’s lasted more than 60 years, and something that’s been a part of southern Ontario culture since a single station lit up the airwaves for the very first time in 1948. When WBEN’s Channel 4 in Buffalo went on the air in May 1948, there were very few TVs in the GTA. Many considered it a novelty that would pass and that the boob tube could never replace radio.

But when shows like Texaco Star Theatre with then superstar Milton Berle and boxing and baseball began showing up on that tiny screen, things soon changed. Thousands of people bought the pricey sets and TV antennas started popping up on rooftops across the city, all aimed at our neighbour to the south.

Things have progressed since then, with hundreds of channels, the advent of colour, UHF, stereo sound, cable, satellite and HDTV.

But nothing has ever changed the medium quite like this.

On Friday every full power television station in the U.S. will stop broadcasting in its analog format, switching to a digital only signal.  It means those who rely on a TV antenna for their programming will lose it completely. Viewers on cable, satellite or with a converter box or people who have an HDTV tuner in their big screen set won’t be affected.

Some stations will stay on for a few weeks offering a “night light”, a constantly repeating message telling viewers they have to switch to digital.

Canadian stations won’t be making the change until 2011, so you won’t lose stalwarts like the CBC or Citytv, which became the first local station in the Great White North to offer many of its shows in the new format in 2006.

Most of us here in Canada won’t notice the difference at all – this is one of the most heavily cabled countries on earth and the TV antenna has become a rare sight in the city. Still it’s worth noting simply because the historic impact of the move will leave all old style TV sets obsolete without special equipment.

That’s never happened before, although most people may not be aware that it almost did.

Back in the early 1950s, CBS invented what’s been described as a ‘gorgeous’ colour TV system known popularly as the colour wheel. It was chosen by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission as the format to be used in America, and likely would have also been adopted here, too.

But it had one big drawback – it would have forced every household to buy a new TV because it wouldn’t work with existing sets. When NBC owner David Sarnoff used his financial and political clout to push for his company’s compatible system, the government changed its mind, and consumers breathed a sigh of relief – although CBS was livid.

Unlike the old system, the nature of digital TV is that it’s either there with a perfect picture or you get nothing at all. There’s no ghosting, no fading in and out and no interference. There are extra digital stations hidden in those signals, but they’re also weaker overall, and many people may lose channels they once received over the air.

The U.S move is a sea change from anything that’s happened before and was originally supposed to take place in February, with some stations making the switch back then. But when the Obama administration heard five million people could lose their shows, the complete shift was delayed.

June 12th was picked as the final, can’t-put-it-off-anymore date, and after massive hype down south, it’s finally here.

Some two million people are said to still not be ready.

So why is it happening? Advocates will tell you it has to be done in order to deliver DVD-quality sound and picture and that the short term pain will result in long term gain. 

But there’s a much bigger reason why so many will suddenly find their over-the-air signals gone. And like most things, it comes down to money.

The airwaves that the analog channels use to broadcast on are extremely valuable. The American government plans to sell them off to cell phones and wireless companies who need the spectrum space to expand their businesses. Those deals are expected to fetch millions if not billions of dollars for the federal government, money no ruling body can resist.

Canada, which has always been behind the U.S. when it comes to TV technology – we didn’t have colour here until 1967 – is proceeding cautiously once again. All analog signals here will stay on until 2011. At that time, if you’re not on cable, satellite or don’t have a new set with a digital tuner, you’ll be facing the same dilemma.

For now, though, it’s the end of an era that began with a postage stamp sized screen and a single channel 61 long years ago. And despite the fact that it’s now summer, after Friday’s mass sign-off, all some will see on their TVs is snow.