Soft Digital Switch Scheduled for Midnight

For anyone who's been living under a rock, the U.S.'s terrestrial digital switch will be occurring at midnight. Originally, it was planned to have all broadcasters (except low-power stations) cease their analog signals and broadcast digital signals only. Well, that simple plan got very muddied last week as Pres. Obama signed a bill delaying a mandatory digital switch until June 12. The reasoning is that some people will not be ready, including so-called vulnerable populations including the elderly and non-English speakers. This argument is not without merit, but it also means that progress is held up.

Now, there are eleventy-one caveats to the original legislation. Some stations that applied to the FCC will be going ahead with the analog shut-off. Some stations will be continuing analog at a cost of ~$20K-30K per month for electricity to the transmitter. There are a couple of dates between now and June that they can apply to cease their analog signal before the June date. This is just scratching the surface at the confusion and chaos the delay bill has caused --- chaos for the technical aspects of broadcasting, licensing and financing for stations who had expected the 18 February "date certain" to be more... well... certain and confusion for people who have been expecting the switch.

As near as I can tell, the federal government hates the KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) method of doing anything.

We are an antenna-only family in northeast Connecticut, and over the past year I've taken the necessary steps to upgrade our antenna system. I promise to go into more detail about the particulars of our situation (we live on the outer regions of 3 major media markets --- Providence, R.I.; Hartford, CT; and Boston, MA) and how I designed and set up the system. I am an over-the-air (OTA) proselytizer. I just don't see why we should pay $60+ per month for cable or satellite service for a lot of channels filled with trashy content that won't be watched. Nevermind that there is not an inclination to waste time in front of the TV as you try to justify paying that much. As such, we get clear reception (to say nothing of HD broadcasts!) on a variety of network and PBS channels. I really don't feel I'm missing out on anything.

Most of the Providence, R.I., stations are going to be switching at midnight. We'll see how it goes.