(Effective February 17, 2009)

This is an educational and training advisory, directed to the nationwide public safety community, from the Federal Communications Commission.

Overview of DTV Transition

The digital television (DTV) transition refers to the switch from analog to digital television broadcasts. On February 17, 2009, federal law requires that all full-power television broadcast stations stop broadcasting in analog format and broadcast only in digital format.

Who is affected by the DTV Transition?

Consumers who own a digital television, or who subscribe to pay television services (e.g. cable or satellite) should not be affected by the February 17, 2009, cut-off date for full-power analog broadcasting. We encourage consumers who subscribe to pay television services to contact their service provider to determine the impact of the DTV transition on their TV viewing and whether any additional components, such as a digital set-top box, may be needed to watch digital broadcast programming. Consumers who do not have subscription TV services and own analog televisions must acquire a digital-to-analog converter box for each of their analog TV sets to continue to receive free over-the-air digital television programming.

While consumers in the United States who use off-the-air television service receive most of their programming from full-power stations, there are three other categories of broadcast TV stations