All-digital TV: The February, 2009 deadline

On February 17, 2009, federal law requires that all full-power television broadcast stations stop broadcasting in analog format and broadcast only in digital format. This move will impact 144,240 Arkansans, mostly economically disadvantaged and those living in rural areas.

What does this mean for southwest Arkansas with respect to AETN? We're currently on the fringe coverage area of AETN's analog Channel 9 (KETG in Arkadelphia). Cable One, which provides cable service to over 20,000 households in Texarkana, obtains the analog KETG signal through a very tall tower just east of town. Satellite subscribers in this area can only obtain Louisiana Public Broadcasting since we're in the Shreveport media market.

For the last couple of years, AETN has also been broadcasting their KETG programming via their new digital channel 13 from the same tower in Arkadelphia. Reception of that digital signal is hit or miss here in Texarkana. As is the case with any digital signal, those on the outskirts of the coverage area on the map below may not be able to receive any signal, whereas the analog broadcast would simply be snowy. This is something that will be of interest to viewers of AETN -- I'd like to keep AETN in our cable line-up and make it available for satellite subscribers in southwest Arkansas as well. Otherwise, we'll end up with another Louisiana station and receive less Arkansas news than we already do. Here's a picture showing the transmitters in the AETN broadcast system: