Your digital TV could soon stop working.

[hardcorestitch]

The FCC is beginning it's gradual process of upgrading digital TV to ATSC 3.0. This means that broadcasters will eventually stop broadcasting an older standard of digital TV called ATSC 1.0. This could mean you MAY have to buy new equipment or even adapters.

The current proposal (not set in stone) is to let the broadcasters choose WHEN to switch, unlike in the analog TV shutoff in 2009 where most full power stations had to shut down altogether by June 12 at midnight. Cable and satellite viewers are currently not affected although there is still a grey area as to if the providers will pipe in the full ATSC 3.0 experience.

 

[sam_gordon]

Before people panic... TVs will continue to work. What MIGHT not work is the built in tuner in them. TVs will still take feeds from DVD players, streaming services, cable & satellite providers, and computers.

It's estimated ATSC 3.0 reaches 75% of households, and is in 70 markets. Keep in mind that there are over 200 markets, so there's still a lot of places without service.

Here's the list of markets with ATSC 3.0 (as of January 2025): https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/atsc-30-deployments-where-and-when-will-nextgen-tv-be-available

There are already "set top boxes" you can purchase to receive the ATSC 3.0 signal and pass to your current TV. If you're shopping for one, make sure it's ATSC 3.0 or "NextGen" capable. If it just says "ATSC tuner", I wouldn't consider it. Amazon has tuners ranging from $100-200.

During the switch from analog to digital in 2009, the government either handed out tuners or provided coupons for them (I can't remember which).

We're at least years away from ATSC 1.0 being turned off IMO.