Digital TV Resources
It’s one of the biggest things you guys are asking me about. The transition to digital television is one year away. If you get cable or satellite, you’re good to go. Don’t worry about this. But if you have any TVs that get over-the-air broadcasts (TVs that use an antenna), you’ll need to take some action.You can buy a new TV, but you don’t have to. You can buy a converter box (it’s like a set-top cable box) for around $50. Wal-Mart is selling them, as is Best Buy.
The federal government is sending out $40 coupons to people, you can get up to two of them. Apply for a coupon here.
We’re going to keep updating you over the next year at WCCO.com/digital, so you can check back for more information and all the information there.
More questions answered at DTVAnswers.com (set up by broadcasters)
There’s tons of information at the federal government’s Digital TV page.
We tried to answer why WCCO isn’t in high-definition TV in our story tonight (Benjamin’s video question is in beautiful Hi-Def right here). It’s complicated, but basically, it costs a ton of money and takes a ton of time to transition ALL our equipment to hi-def. Not just studio cameras, switchers, tape players, editing machines. We have to upgrade our cameras for out in the field, live trucks and helicopter. And WCCO has three transmitters: the metro transmitter here, KCCO in Alexandria, and KCCW in Walker. We cover 59 counties (another metro station only covers 20-some counties). That costs money to upgrade each transmitter. The metro is ready, the outlying stations are not.
Related: In USA Today there’s a story on Why reality shows aren’t in Hi-Def.
Do you want to send a video or regular Good Question? Put down the remote and send it in!