UPDATE – KETC will now sign off FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2009, 11:30 P.M.

Due to continuing work to the KETC transmitter tower, KETC will sign off Friday night, July 31, 2009, at 11:30 p.m. KETC will be back on the air no later than 6:00 a.m., Saturday, August 1, 2009.

Only over-the-air viewers will be affected; if you receive KETC via cable or a satellite provider you will experience no change in your service.

Due to work being done to the KETC transmitter tower, KETC will sign off Sunday night, July 26, 2009, at 10:30 p.m. KETC will be back on the air no later than 6:00 a.m., Monday, July 27, 2009.

Only over-the-air viewers will be affected; if you receive KETC via cable or a satellite provider you will experience no change in your service.

Due to a slight change in the transmission radius of KETC, small portions of our current audience may not receive KETC over the air after June 12. To reduce the impact in these areas, we are making improvements to our transmission facility. This work will be completed by August 18.

The Missouri counties with areas on the outside edge of our current reach that may experience some loss of KETC are Crawford, Franklin, Gasconade, Iron, Lincoln, Madison, Montgomery, Perry, Pike, Sainte Genevieve, St. Francois, Warren and Washington.

The Illinois counties with areas on the outside edge of our current reach that may experience some loss of KETC are Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Greene, Jackson, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Montgomery, Perry, Randolph and Washington.

Also, some viewers who are located in areas with hills or tall buildings may lose the ability to receive KETC over the air.

Check your reception capabilities by visiting the FCC’s online mapping tool at: www.dtv.gov/maps.

Additional detailed information is available by calling the FCC at 1-888-CALL-FCC or Channel 9’s DTV hotline at 314-512-9617.

KETC will shut off it’s analog broadcast signal at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, June 12, 2009. From that point forward the only way to receive KETC over the air will be with either a digital television or an analog television equipped with a digital converter box.

If you received KETC via cable or satellite there will be no change to your service.

You can find more information about DTV at: www.dtv.gov, by calling the FCC at 1-888-CALL-FCC or Channel 9’s DTV hotline at 314-512-9617.

From DTVAnswers.com…

The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) today released a new poll that shows most consumers in Missouri know about the nationwide switch to digital television (DTV), which will be completed on February 17, 2009.

Conducted March 29 through May 23 by Smith-Geiger LLC, the survey reported 94 percent of Missouri households were aware that full-power television stations will be switching their broadcast signals and programming to an all-digital format. Across the country, consumer awareness of the DTV transition is nearly universal at 90 percent. 

An estimated 478,030 homes in Missouri rely exclusively on over-the-air television, meaning they watch free TV broadcasts using rabbit ear or rooftop antennas. These households will need to take steps to receive a digital television signal by February 17, 2009, when all full-power stations must begin broadcasting only in digital. 

Among the survey’s key findings in Missouri:

• 94 percent of households are aware television is switching to digital
• 41 percent of households correctly stated the date of the transition
• 76 percent of households recalled seeing DTV messages on TV

Led by NAB, broadcasters nationwide are focusing their efforts on educating Americans about the actions they need to take to be prepared for the switch. Over-the-air viewers must either purchase a converter box or digital TV set, or subscribe to a pay service, such as cable or satellite. Local television and radio stations will continue running spots that highlight the transition date and the government‘s converter box coupon program, as well as explain the benefits of DTV and the ways consumers can upgrade to digital.

A report from Nielsen says that nearly 10 percent of U.S. households are not ready for the digital television transition, with Hispanic households behind the general market.

You can read the entire story here.

The New York Times recently published an article detailing how important it is to have the correct antenna position to receive a digital television signal. As the article notes, while an analog signal degrades gradually, a digital signal will remain uniformly crisp until the signal gets weak, then disappear completely (known as the “cliff effect”).

You can read the full article here.

Broadcast & Cable recently published an article reporting that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has the authority to allow consumers to reapply for the digital-TV-to-analog converter-box coupons, which expire 90 days after being issued.

You can read the full article here.