Don' t Let Your TV Become Extinct! Next Digital TV Transition Meeting Set for April 4

Loudoun County’s Office of Public Information, in conjunction with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), is holding a series of meetings to help people prepare for the transition to digital television. The next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, April 4, 2009, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Douglass Community Center in Leesburg.

Loudoun residents who have questions about the digital conversion or who need assistance in understanding how to attach their digital converter box will have the opportunity to talk to representatives of the FCC.

The deadline for full-power broadcast TV stations to complete the switch to digital television (DTV) is June 12, 2009. Broadcast stations are required to notify their viewers before shutting off their analog channels. Local broadcast channels will make on-air announcements about the transition. Viewers may also contact stations directly for more information.

If you have one or more analog televisions that receive free over-the-air TV programming with an outdoor antenna or “rabbit ears” on the TV, you will need to be prepared for the transition.

You have three options: 1) purchase and connect a “digital-to-analog converter box” to your analog TV; 2) purchase a digital television (a TV with a built-in digital tuner); or 3) subscribe to a paid service such as cable or satellite TV. Each U.S. household is eligible to receive two $40 coupons from the federal government to be used toward the purchase of two digital converter boxes.

Meetings in Loudoun about the DTV transition are scheduled for:

•Saturday, April 4, 10:30 a.m. - 1 p.m., Douglass Community Center, 407 E. Market Street, Leesburg

•Saturday, May 2, 10 a.m. – 12 noon, Loudoun Valley Community Center, 320 W. School Street, Purcellville

•Saturday, June 6, 10 a.m. – 12 noon, Cascades Library 21030 Whitfield Place, Potomac Falls

More information about the digital TV transition, including links to the FCC and related websites, is available on the Loudoun County website at www.loudoun.gov/digitaltv.