WZMY-TV, a Boston MyNetworkTV affiliate, will permanently shut down its analog signal and go all digital at noon on Dec. 1, the station announced this week. The station, tagged "MyTV New England" is the first in the Boston area to go all-digital.
The station, owned by Shooting Star Broadcasting of New England, also announced a joint public education effort with Comcast to focus on how the DTV transition will affect its viewers. A 30-minute program, "Switch to Digital" will air weekly on MyTVWeekly and will be available in the "Get Local" folder on Comcast's On Demand systems in metropolitan Boston and southern New Hampshire starting later this month and continue through to the Feb. 17, 2009 full power analog shutoff. The program will show experts from MyTV and Comcast answering questions from local consumers about the transition.
"The greater Boston area has always been on the cutting edge of new technology and innovation. The entire country is preparing for television's switch to all digital next February," commented Diane Sutter, president and CEO of MyTV. "Here at MyTV, we wanted to insure that everyone in our viewing area is ready and able to make the switch smoothly and give our viewers an advance peek at all digital television."
"All of Comcast's customers who are connected to cable will continue to receive broadcast channels without interruption after the digital broadcast transition—it will have no impact on these customers," said Mary McLaughlin, area vice president for Comcast, who is featured in the MyTV special. "However, TVs that aren't connected could be impacted, so we congratulate MyTV (Channel 18 on most Comcast systems) on taking the lead by becoming the Boston area's first all-digital broadcaster and by educating the public about who is and who is not affected by this major change."
