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This is a test — but soon it won’t be.

Tonight, three local television stations will momentarily switch to digital-only broadcasting, a move designed to alert viewers who aren’t ready for next year’s switch to digital television.

WGHP (Fox, Channel 8); WXII (NBC, Channel 12) and WFMY (CBS, Channel 2) will switch to their digital signal for one minute between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. tonight.

Viewers who aren’t watching on a digital TV or using a digital converter box will see a message reminding them that they aren’t ready for the conversion. The message will include a disclaimer for cable and satellite subscribers; those subscription services are taking care of the conversion for their customers.

The goal is to prod people to action.

“People need to go ahead and do their transitions now and not wait until February,” said Hank Price, the general manager of WXII and president of the N.C. Association of Broadcasters. “Everything is available now. Every TV station in the Triad is ready for digital; everyone is broadcasting in digital.”

Plus, he said, if analog television viewers start using their converter boxes now, they’ll receive the added benefit of being able to watch available digital stations. Both WXII and WFMY have digital weather stations in operation that are available to viewers with converter boxes or digital televisions, he said.

Tonight’s test is part of ongoing education to prepare the population for the permanent switch from analog to digital television on Feb. 17, 2009.

To ease the transition, the federal government is offering $40 coupons to help defray the cost of converter boxes for analog sets. Each household is eligible to receive up to two coupons.

As of Monday, more than 156,000 coupons had been requested in the Greensboro/High Point/ Winston-Salem area, said Bart Forbes, a spokesman with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

More than 62,000 of those coupons have been redeemed. Recipients are encouraged not to delay when redeeming the coupons because the vouchers have a 90-day expiration date.

Earlier this month, broadcasters in Wilmington went to an all-digital format as a test run for the February nationwide transition.

One of the lessons learned: People knew about the transition but tended to procrastinate.
That could be a problem if people wait until February’s nationwide switch to apply for their converter box coupons. It usually takes a few weeks for the coupons to arrive, meaning those who wait until the last minute could be left out: no TV.

“For us, it’s act now,” Forbes said.

“It’s apply, buy and try: Apply for the coupons, buy the converter box and try it out now. Most stations are already broadcasting in digital.”

Contact Lanita Withers at 373-7071 or lanita.withers@news-record.com