Despite the extension of the deadline to June 12, television broadcasters in the Burlington and Plattsburgh areas have agreed to shut down their analog transmitters at 11:59pm on Feb. 17 as scheduled.
This means that Montrealers who watch TV over the air with an external or internal antenna will no longer receive programming on these stations unless their TV is digital-ready or they have a digital converter box.
The following stations, which count Montreal as part of their markets, are among the 25% of U.S. broadcast TV stations whose analog transmitter will stop programming on Feb. 17:
- WCAX-3 (CBS)
- WPTZ-5 (NBC)
- WVNY-22 (ABC)
- WETK-33 (PBS/VPT)
- WFFF-44 (Fox)
- WCFE-57 (PBS/Mountain Lake)
Associated Press has a running list of the stations shutting down next week.
People who get television by analog cable, digital cable, pirated cable, direct-to-home satellite, illegally-pirated U.S. direct-to-home satellite or by Torrenting it off the Internet will not be affected by the change (except to see all those DTV shutdown reminders on the local stations).
Oh jeez. I’ve got an 80-year-old relative in DDO who will need to fix his broken rooftop antenna AND get the digital box. He says he can’t find any technicians to do it. I know this isn’t Craiglist, but if anybody can post a link to a reputable company or technician, we’d appreciate it.
Is there some comprehensive over-the-air no-cable digital TV FAQ (no way I’m gonna give my dough to Pédaleau nor to Bell) that doesn’t need sacrificing neurons to understand???
Here’s a (blonde) idea: let’s retaliate by scrambling Virgin Radio 96’s signal!