The federal government has extended the deadline for the transition to digital TV to June 12, 2009. THIRTEEN and WLIW will continue to broadcast both analog and digital signals until June 12. However, if you already have the digital box and are not seeing our signals, read what to do here, and see our new FAQ.

On February 4th, the House voted to delay the analog TV shutdown until June 12th, 2009 requiring us to postpone our planned transition to digital television. Until June 12, 2009, Thirteen is continuing to broadcast on digital 61 at low power (see FAQ below). On June 12, 2009, Thirteen will broadcast on digital 13 at full power.

In the interim, over-the-air viewers who cannot receive Thirteen’s low power digital 61 signal should go to analog channel 13. Viewers who are using a digital converter box will need to set it to analog pass through or disconnect it temporarily from the television set in order to watch Thirteen.

If you do not yet have a converter box, you will need to purchase one by June 12th in order to receive our signal on your analog television once the transition to digital takes place. For more information, please call 1-888-388-2009 or visit http://www.dtv2009.gov.

FAQ on the DTV Transition:

I installed my new DTV Converter box, and now can’t get Thirteen. What happened?

This is because we are still broadcasting our analog signal. Once the analog shut down takes place in June, you will be able to receive Thirteen using your converter box. In the meantime, please check your box to see if it has an analog pass-through switch. This will enable you to view Thirteen. If it does not have the pass-through switch, you can disconnect your box to view Thirteen. We regret this inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

Why is it that I can get every other station through the box, but not Thirteen?

Thirteen’s full power digital antenna was destroyed in the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. While commercial stations were able to replace both their digital and analog antennas, Thirteen does not have the funding to have 2 full-power transmitters broadcasting simultaneously. On June 12, 2009, Thirteen will switch to a high-power DTV transmitter that will reach everyone in the viewing area.

Why couldn’t the switch to digital be made on Feb. 17 as originally scheduled, instead of the new date June 12?

Many of our viewers were unable to buy converter boxes due to the government shortage of coupons and retail shortages of boxes. Making the switch earlier would mean turning off our analog signal and leaving these viewers in the dark. We want to be sure that all of our viewers are able to see our programming.

Stations in other cities, like Madison, WI and Seattle have switched to digital already. Why can’t you?

The airwaves in our densely-populated, Eastern-Seaboard region accommodate a limited number of analog and digital signals. The FCC made temporary digital channel assignments to avoid interference problems. If Thirteen had completed digital conversion on February 17, it could have created interference problems with broadcast signals in nearby cities, so stations in our region are planning to complete the final conversion to digital at the same time in June.

If you have other questions that haven’t been answered by this FAQ, please post them in the comments so we can continue to add to the FAQ as necessary. Thank you!

DTV special

Watch the special where Norm Abram from This Old House and Maria Hinojosa from NOW on PBS explain what the digital TV transition is, and what you have to do (26 minutes). Again, the deadline is now pushed back to June 12, 2009.

See thirteen’s site about the Digital Television transition.

Antennaweb can help you figure out what kind of converter box/antenna you need.