IF YOU ARE A CABLE SUBSCRIBER, YOU SHOULD BE AWARE –
- Full-power TV broadcast stations now broadcast in digital format only.
- The DTV transition did not require cable companies to switch their cable systems to digital.
- For voluntary business reasons, your cable company may move some cable channels from its analog tier onto a digital tier, or may switch to all-digital service and stop providing any analog service. These changes are not required by the government.
- As long as your cable company offers any analog service, it must provide you with your local broadcast stations so you can watch them without a cable set-top box.
- Any analog television not hooked up to cable, must use a digital to analog converter box to continue to receive broadcast signals.
If you have an analog television that receives free over-the-air programming with a broadcast antenna (such as “rabbit ears” on your set or an antenna on your roof), you need to purchase a digital-to-analog converter box in order to watch digital broadcast television.
If you subscribe to cable service, the DTV transition should not have affected any TV sets that are connected to your cable service. Only full-power broadcast television stations – stations that use the public airwaves to transmit their programming for free to viewers through a broadcast antenna - were required to stop analog broadcasting on June 12, 2009.
Cable companies are not required to switch their privately-owned systems from analog service to digital service. In fact, if your cable company offers any analog service, it is required to provide you with your local broadcast stations in analog so that you can watch them on an analog TV without a cable set-top box.
Some cable companies have decided to switch to digital service. This is a business decision made by the cable companies and is not required by the federal government. Your cable company may decide to move certain cable channels off of its analog service tier and onto a digital service tier, or it may decide to switch to all-digital service at once, so that there is no analog service tier for any subscribers. If your cable company moves some or all of the channels it provides onto a digital service tier, it may notify you that you need to get “digital cable” equipment to continue receiving that cable service, including renting or purchasing a digital cable set-top box or purchasing a digital cable ready TV equipped with a “CableCARD” slot. This digital cable equipment is different from the digital-to-analog converter boxes discussed above. If you have a digital TV, you may be able to view broadcast stations through your cable system without additional equipment. You should ask your cable company about the equipment options that may be available to you, including any options to purchase equipment from a retailer if you do not wish to rent equipment from your cable company.
For more information about the DTV transition, go to www.dtv.gov or contact the FCC by calling 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) voice or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY; faxing 1-866-418-0232; or writing to:
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries and Complaints Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554.
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DTV Transition Did Not Require Cable Systems to Switch to Digital Guide (pdf)
