Digital OTA TV Channels Are Changing – Rescan
Between 2018 – 2020, many of the digital OTA TV channels are changing and you may need to have your TV rescan for the new channels.
Do you use a TV antenna to watch live OTA (Over the Air) TV channels from your local broadcasts? Do you watch ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW, PBS, MyTV, ION, Bounce TV, Comet, or COZI TV using an TV antenna?
You many may need to rescan for TV channels because of digital channels changes.
Read more about Get Free TV.
Digital OTA TV Channels Are Changing
In March of 2017, the FCC announced that about 1,000 Live TV OTA local broadcast channels will change. These changes are happening because radio air frequencies are being moved to make room for new radio communications for cellular companies to provide 5G.
Beginning in September 2018 through July 2020, local TV stations in cities across the U.S. will be changing their over-the-air broadcast frequencies.
If you don’t use a TV antenna to receive your local channels, this doesn’t affect you. Cable TV and satellite TV service customers do not need to rescan.
Want to read more? Check out the FCC’s Consumer Toolkit.
FCC Schedule
Watch for your local channels to make announcements about moving dates.
This could be in a public service announcement or a”crawl” that runs across the bottom of your TV screen.
Also, you can use the FCC website Digital TV Maps to see when channels in your area might be moving.
| Phase | Testing Period Start Date | Phase Completion Date |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 9/13/2018 | |
| 1 | 9/14/2018 | 11/30/2018 |
| 2 | 12/1/2018 | 4/12/2019 |
| 3 | 4/13/2019 | 6/21/2019 |
| 4 | 6/22/2019 | 8/2/2019 |
| 5 | 8/3/2019 | 9/6/2019 |
| 6 | 9/7/2019 | 10/18/2019 |
| 7 | 10/19/2019 | 1/17/2020 |
| 8 | 1/18/2020 | 3/13/2020 |
| 9 | 3/14/2020 | 5/1/2020 |
| 10 | 5/2/2020 | 7/3/2020 |
Do I Need A New Antenna?
Probably not.
In a few cases a station may move from a UHF channel to a VHF channel. If you only have a VHF antenna, you would need to purchase an antenna that can receive UHF signals.
You can read more about antennas in the FCC Antennas and Digital Television guide.
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