COLUMBUS – About a dozen Ohio television stations, mostly in the Cincinnati and Dayton viewing areas, are changing their tunes, so to speak.
The Federal Communications Commission is halfway through a national consolidation of T-V frequencies in a move to gain more broadcast airwave space for new, high-speed wireless service.
During the switch, Ohioans who watch TV with an antenna will need to re-scan their TV’s to ensure the new frequency is recognized
“A good rule of thumb is if they notice during this period that channels that they’re used to seeing have gone missing, they should re-scan. And hopefully, that is what the problem is, and that’ll get them right back.” . Jean Kiddoo (KID-ew), chair, Incentive Auction Task Force at the Federal Communications Commission.
Click here for more Information and assistance or call 1-888-CALLFCC (1-888-225-5322)
According to the website tvanswers.org, stations in the Columbus area that might be affected include WSYX-TV (ABC 6) and WTTE-TV (Fox 28).
Kiddoo says viewers need to be on the lookout for notices from their local stations about when they need to rescan.
To re-scan, viewers will need to find “auto tune,” “program” or “re-scan” in the “setup” menu of their TV or converter-box remote control. Kiddoo notes some people may need to re-scan their sets more than once, depending on when stations change their frequencies
According to the Nielsen ratings service, 16.4 million U-S households had an over-the-air digital antenna in 2018, compared to 12 million in 2014.
Fourteen Ohio stations are switching frequencies Friday. About 20 other Ohio stations made the switch earlier this year and several others are scheduled for Spring of 2020.