Forget Analog: Stations Start Switch to Digital TV

Hundreds of television stations started making the switch Tuesday from an analog format to an all-digital TV format, ahead of the June 12 deadline, reports USA Today. More than 400 stations, in smaller markets or parts of markets, stopped broadcasting in old-fashioned analog as part of a long-awaited plan to bring clearer pictures and more channel choices to over-the-air television viewers via digital TV. According to the New York Times, approximately 36 percent of stations will have made the switch by Wednesday morning.

While Tuesday was the original switch date set by the Federal Communications Commission more than three years ago, the government pushed the deadline back to June 12 to accommodate a flawed transition process so as not to leave unprepared television viewers with no signal. People with older analog televisions or rabbit-ear antennas need to install a converter box in order to access the digital programming. Cable and satellite television customers are not affected by the switch.