While the rest of the state has just two days to prepare for its television transition from analog to digital, Kaua‘i residents will be completely unaffected by the switch indefinitely. Lyle Ishida, the Federal Communication Commission’s Hawai‘i digital television transition
While the rest of the state has just two days to prepare for its television transition from analog to digital, Kaua‘i residents will be completely unaffected by the switch indefinitely.
Lyle Ishida, the Federal Communication Commission’s Hawai‘i digital television transition manager, explained yesterday in a phone interview that the change, which takes effect on the other Hawaiian Islands Thursday at noon and will impact the remainder of American TV watchers on Feb. 17, can be safely ignored on Kaua‘i due to a subtle difference in local infrastructure.
According to an informational Web site run by the U.S. Department of Commerce, all full-power television stations will stop broadcasting in analog and switch to digital broadcasting, which “promises to provide a clearer picture and more programming options and will free up airwaves for use by emergency responders.”
Ishida said Kauaians will be unaffected because everyone on Kaua‘i gets their television via low-power translator stations, not full-power ones.
“Just because of the infrastructure on the Garden Isle, there is not going to be a single thing happening,” he said, apologizing for any confusion that may have occurred due to the publicizing of information pertinent to other islands.
Elsewhere, the change will only affect those viewers who get their TV signal through the air with the use of equipment like “rabbit ears” — cable or satellite subscribers are already in the clear, and all new television sets are already set up for digital broadcasting.
Ishida said some 22,000 households statewide get their television programming exclusively over the air, with potentially thousands more having at least one set using analog signals.
Those who wish to keep their older analog TV sets are eligible to obtain coupons, worth $40, that can be applied toward the purchase of converter boxes, which Ishida said sell for between $50 and $70.
Ishida encouraged Kaua‘i TV viewers who currently use analog sets and have no plans to upgrade to a newer television in the next year to apply for the coupons — a single household can use up to two — and purchase the converter box because the digital revolution will reach the island at some point.
“At some point in the future, you’re going digital. You can bank on that,” he said, noting a transition affecting low-power stations would come at “a date to be named later.”
“Buy (the converter box), stick it in your closet and have it in your possession when it’s time to make the transition,” he suggested. “If you’re going to keep your TV for a while, why not save the money, especially in this economy?”
• Michael Levine, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or via e-mail at mlevine@kauaipubco.com
