Analog TV signals to be interrupted in ‘soft test’

[Fansome]

Analog TV signals to be interrupted in ‘soft test’
Stations must turn off analog broadcasts June 12 as part of gov't mandate
The Associated Press
updated 1:58 p.m. ET, Thurs., May 21, 2009

NEW YORK - TV stations around the country will replace their analog broadcasts for a few minutes today with reminders that those broadcasts will disappear completely in three weeks.

The stations have to turn off their analog broadcasts on June 12 as part of a nationwide mandate to move to more efficient digital signals. For Thursday's "soft test," analog broadcasts will be interrupted for two to five minutes once in the morning, once just after noon, at once in the early evening, around 6:30 p.m. local time for most stations.

Households that have all their sets hooked up to cable or satellite feeds will be unaffected by the analog shutdown — which already happened on many stations in February.