Broadcast TV has gone all-digital in the metro area with scant pain, though stations and community organizers are reporting a surge in calls from those having a bit of trouble leaving the analog-TV era behind.
The end of analog broadcasts in the metro area around midnight Friday was part of a nationwide digital-television transition that has reportedly gone smoothly.
Still, several hundred calls came into sister stations KMSP, channel 9, and WFTC, channel 29, on Saturday morning as viewers sought help with digital tuning.
Some didn’t realize they had to rescan for channels on digital converters hooked to their old analog sets after a few local stations changed digital frequencies, said KMSP and WFTC general manager Carol Rueppel.
Others in the Twin Cities were having antenna problems. Digital tuning occurs on both the VHF band (with lower channel numbers, such as 4 and 5) and UHF band (with higher numbers, like 29). Some television viewers discovered their incomplete or damaged antennas couldn’t do both, said Jim du Bois of the Minnesota Broadcasters Association.
Call volume at other local stations was lower. WCCO, channel 4, received only a handful of calls and sent some staff home, said assignment editor Jordan Steward. KARE, channel 11, saw several dozen calls on Saturday morning, said Jeff Phillips, vice president of technology and operations.
The digital-TV transition in the Twin Cities was “not armageddonish in the least,” said du Bois.
