February 17th of 2009 is the day all television signals will be sent only in digital. If you're a cable or satellite customer, or if you already have a digital TV, the switch shouldn't have any negative impact on you.

But about 500,000 Wisconsin households get television signals over the air, using an antenna or rabbit ears on an analog TV. If you're one of them you have a few options.

You can subscribe to cable or satellite, buy a new television with a digital tuner, or purchase a digital converter box that will be hitting store shelves very soon. Those converter boxes will cost about 50 to 70 dollars. But the Federal Government will give you up to 2 $40 coupons to help with that cost. (The link to apply for those coupons is below) Any of these options will mean you won't have any problems.

One thing to keep in mind, is even after the digital switchover, just because the signal you're watching will be in digital, doesn't necessarily mean it's in ‘H.D.’. "Digital is how the signal's being sent out and transferred into our homes”, said Brian Knapp, electronics manager at Furniture and Appliancemart in Wausau. “H.D. is the picture quality that the show is being filmed in."

A digital signal will provide you with better picture and sound quality than an analog signal. That's what everyone will see starting about a year from now. But you'll need an HDTV, short for high definition television, to get the best possible quality. An HDTV set will show you brighter, deeper colors and more detail, as long as the program you're watching is being filmed in HD. And those programs are becoming more common. “You're going to see more and more programming in HD”, said Tom Moore, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Cable Communications Association. “That's what consumers want and we're working very hard to free up the bandwidth to have more HD programming available for folks."

Many programs on NewsChannel 7 are already being broadcast in HD, meaning if you have an HDTV, you're getting the best picture and sound this new technology offers. And it's available for free over the air.

But if you don't have an HDTV, and don't want to buy one, that's fine too. Despite what some sales people may try to tell you, it's not required. Any television with a digital tuner, converter box, or connection to a cable or satellite service will continue to work just fine for the foreseeable future.

And there's more good news for NewsChannel 7 viewers. Once your TV is capable of showing digital signals you'll be able to watch 2 more of our channels. Channel 7-1 is digital NewsChannel 7, where you’ll see your local news and CBS programming. Channel 7-2 is the My-TV network, featuring a variety of entertainment programming. And channel 7-3 is our 24-7 Weather channel, offering local weather forecasts around the clock.

NewsChannel 7 is working to make sure you'll receive all the benefits of digital TV. Next February, we'll be boosting our signal strength significantly, which will bring our stations to more of you than ever before.