digital tv

Millions of TV lovers hit by the weak economy and fat cable bills are going old-school: They're using antennas. That's right: The rabbit ears your grandmother jiggled to tune in "I Love Lucy" can still receive dozens of digital channels on HDTVs. Here's how you can rule the free airwaves.

The digital TV transition went live almost a year ago on June 12, 2009, when the FTC flipped the switch and turned off the analog television signals that many consumers relied on for entertainment. As part of the digital TV transition, the government made converter box coupons available to...

The transition to digital television seems to have netted its first arrest: A 70-year-old man who shot his TV set in frustration when he couldn't get his digital converter box to work. The incident happened in Missouri, where the man was charged with unlawfully discharging his weapon -- his wife...

You pretty much have to be living under a rock to still be ignorant of the looming Feb. 17 deadline for the transition to digital TV. On that date, all old analog TVs will go dark, and the FCC will begin broadcasting in digital only. But some lawmakers now say they want to postpone that deadline by...

The government had intended to help people get ready for the federally mandated transition to digital TV broadcasts. It made your local TV stations nag you about it. And for a while, it has been supplying $40 coupons to defray the cost of the converter box necessary to translate the new signals,...

This series explores aspects of America that may soon be just a memory -- some to be missed, some gladly left behind. From the least impactful to the most, here are 25 bits of vanishing America. I'm young enough that I didn't have to take directions from my dad on just how to arrange rabbit ears...

If you're running some older analog-only television sets in that extra bedroom or summer home, you may already know that come February 2009, those older televisions that get their signals using an over-the-air antenna will go blank as the FCC shuts off the analog television airwaves to make room...