Public TV station KUAT Channel 6 will stop broadcasting analog and only provide a digital signal beginning April 1.
KUAT’s broadcast equipment on Mount Bigelow was damaged by ice in February and the station decided to shut down its analog transmitter because it needed to be repaired, said Arizona Public Media spokesman Steve Delgado.
The transmitter will eventually be replaced with a digital one, but the station decided repairing the analog transmitter wasn’t viable with the digital switch coming in June, Delgado said.
Viewers will be still be able watch PBS on the KUAS, analog channel 27.
Local stations were poised to make the transition to digital TV Feb. 17, but Congress postponed the mandatory deadline until June 12 while giving stations the option of sticking to the originally scheduled date. Most local stations have continued broadcasting in analog past the original deadline.
People are also reading…
After the June deadline, viewers who rely on over-the-air signals will need a television that can receive the digital transmission or a converter box and an ultra-high frequency, or UHF, antenna.
“It was our full intention to continue the KUAT analog signal until the June 12th national transition date, but the damaged equipment must be removed as soon as possible and sent for repairs,” said Jack Gibson, Arizona Public Media’s director and general manager, in a statement.
When contacted Tuesday, network officials from several stations said they still planned to broadcast an analog signal until the June deadline. KTTU, My Tucson TV, has a notice posted on its Web site that its analog transmitter hasn’t operated since Jan. 18 because of an equipment failure. KTTU’s analog transmission won’t return, the announcement says.