Tennessee: Digital TV switch could have hiccups

Some rural television watchers could be left with static-filled screens after broadcasters switch to the digital format in February, a federal communications official acknowledged Tuesday.

“We’ll handle them on a case-by-case basis,” said Deborah Taylor Tate, a member of the Federal Communications Commission, who spoke Tuesday during an FCC town hall meeting at Eastgate Town Center.

Under federal law, all broadcasters must switch from analog to digital signals starting Feb. 17. To watch TV after that date, a viewer must have a digital television, subscribe to cable or satellite service or buy a digital converter box to use with an existing antenna.

But in rural parts of mountainous Tennessee and North Georgia, some residents may not receive service because of their distance from digital transmitters or because of the terrain, said Mrs. Tate, a former chairwoman of the Tennessee Regulatory Authority.

Signals may not be strong enough to reach some rural areas, according to Antennaweb.org, a Web site run by the Consumer Electronics Association and the National Association of Broadcasters.

Richard Headrick of Catoosa County, Ga., who attended Tuesday’s meeting, said his family splits time between Catoosa County and a remote home in Grundy County, Tenn. He expects to get digital broadcast signals in Catoosa after the changeover, he said, but he is concerned he may not receive such signals in Grundy, where he now uses an external antenna to receive analog signals from several stations in Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga.

The television is the only source of entertainment for his son in his Grundy County home, Mr. Headrick said, and cable service is not available in that area. His family has ordered coupons to buy converters but has not received them yet, he said.

Mrs. Tate said broadcasters who have lost signal ability may apply to the FCC to boost their signal strength, which should solve the problem, she said.

Consumers also may order free coupons from the FCC toward the purchase of digital converter boxes to use with TVs that rely on antennas, Mrs. Tate said. One household may order two coupons, which have a face value of $40 each, she said, while converter boxes sell for prices from $40 to $70 or more at local electronics stores.

However, the customer still must pay the sales tax on the converter box, she said. And a customer using a VCR to record a program will need a second converter for the VCR in addition to the convertor being used for the TV, she said.

In Chattanooga, Comcast is making a major commercial push to let viewers know they do not have to take any action to continue watching television through Comcast after the conversion, said Russell Byrd, senior director of government affairs for Comcast.

The company expects to switch its equipment from analog to digital by Christmas, he said.