Hawaii takes closely watched digital TV plunge

HONOLULU (AP) -- Hawaiians were getting ready for the state's shutdown of analog TV signals Thursday, more than a month before the rest of the country is scheduled to complete the now-contentious switch to digital.

With analog TV signals due to be turned off at noon local time, residents with older TVs were on the verge of finding out whether they would be missing any channels or whether they still have any service at all.

Government officials and broadcasters estimate about 20,000 households in Hawaii still get their TV signals over the air, meaning they'd have to buy new TVs with digital tuners or digital converter boxes for their old TVs. Or they could switch to cable or satellite service, which aren't affected by the transition.

Households that need but failed to buy digital converter boxes would miss Thursday night shows like "CSI" or "Grey's Anatomy." Others who bought the $50 to $70 converter boxes might still find they lost channels because digital signals won't necessarily reach all the places hit by analog broadcasts.

Hawaii was moving to all-digital TV before the Feb. 17 date set for the rest of the nation because of an endangered bird, the Hawaiian dark-rumped petrel. Broadcasters and park rangers want to take down analog transmission towers on the slopes of Maui's Haleakala volcano before the bird's nesting season.

The analog shutdown in the rest of the country ? which Congress mandated to free up space in the airwaves for other wireless services ? has been put in doubt because the federal government has run out of money for $40 coupons to subsidize converter boxes. President-elect Barack Obama's transition team has asked Congress for a delay.

Despite extensive preparations and a broad public educational effort, the government and broadcasters are prepared for a torrent of complaints when analog TV dies.

In Hawaii, hundreds of calls for help already have been pouring in daily to a statewide customer support center. Some TV stations have put messages on their phone answering systems referring callers first to the support center.

Teams of volunteers and contractors have been making house calls to residents who were having difficulties with the converter boxes, but they may not be able to reach everyone throughout the islands Thursday if there are widespread problems, especially in rural areas.

» posted by ITworld staff

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