Only 260 days until life as we’ve known it comes to an end—forever.

Well, life with our television, anyway. The Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 extended the original deadline of December 2006 to February 17, 2009. After that date, stations will no longer be licensed to broadcast in analog format. Television will only be broadcast in digital thereafter.

You may have seen public service announcements on the television, warning you that this earth-shaking event will occur within the next year. While mutterings about corporate greed (They only want us to spend the money for a new digital set!) and other conspiracy theories accompany this, as with any new change, the bottom line is that the government has a good reason for mandating the changeover, most of it benefiting the consumer.

The reason most of concern to government entities is public safety. Because digital broadcasting is more efficient, it uses less broadcast frequencies. This opens up a number of frequencies, including those between 698 and 806 megahertz, frequencies that can penetrate walls, trees and high-rise buildings, for use by police, fire and other emergency channels. Particularly in big cities, where there is much competition for airwaves, you could see how that might be useful.

The changeover will also provide consumers with better sound (DVD digital vs. standard FM radio), and also better picture quality, depending on the sophistication of their television receiver. Obviously, those with High Definition receivers will get better quality picture than those who are simply receiving digital broadcasts (which are still better than analog). Other options will be the opportunity for more commercial wireless broadband services for a burgeoning population of cellphone customers, and multicasting, where a broadcaster can stream an HDTV program or multiple standard-definition (SD) programs at the same time.

So does this mean you have to junk your tv?  No.

For the majority of households, who use cable or satellite, they won’t have to change anything.

The FCC is making sure cable providers continue to provide local station in analog as long as they provide any analog content whatsoever. You can use the same boxes you use now and enjoy the better service.

For the 20 million or so television viewers across the country who still receive their transmission via the air, through rabbit-ears, antennas and the like, however, they will have to take action to continue to receive television signal after February of 2009.  They may choose to upgrade their sets to a digital set or they can buy a converter box.

Keep in mind you will need to have a digital-to-analog converter box for each piece of equipment with an analog tuner. So if your television and your VCR, for example, are both analog and you want to use them at the same time, you’ll need two boxes. Battery-powered televisions, if analog-based, will also need a converter box.

How do you get converter boxes? You can buy them on the Internet, or at most electronic stores. The basic cost is about $50, but coupons are available for the asking for $40 off the price of up to two boxes, making them much more affordable. Not every converter model is covered by the coupons—make sure you get the right brand to save the most.

So is this another big scare like the turn of the century Y2K situation? Not really. But just to see how this will work itself out, Wilmington, North Carolina has volunteered to switch over early. Beginning at noon on September 8, 2008, WWAY (ABC), WSFX-TV (FOX), WECT (NBC), WILM-LP (CBS), and W51CW (Trinity Broadcasting) will broadcast only digital signals to their viewers in the five North Carolina counties that comprise this television market. 

The FCC intends to monitor the changeover in Wilmington, using the test market as an opportunity to work in advance with broadcasters, viewers, cable companies and others who will be affected to anticipate and address any problems, according to an FCC press release.

For more information, follow up with the DTV Frequently Asked Questions site at http://www.dtv.gov/consumercorner.html#faq26 .