For those in the Bay Area who want to receive TV with an antenna after the June 12 DTV switch, the answer may not be as simple as getting a converter box, the Mercury News reports. The Bay Area has both hills and tall buildings that will stop digital signals from reaching many of the households that currently get analog broadcasts. Also, signals weaken the farther they have to travel, which could pose problems for South Bay residents, because many local television stations broadcast out of San Francisco, about 50 or more miles away.
- • Some 337,000 Bay Area residents who formerly were able to get an analog signal from KTVU will not be able to receive the station’s digital signal, according to a study commissioned by the FCC.
• For KRON, the number is around 148,000.
• KGO may pick up viewers. ABC7 is currently broadcasting its digital station on UHF channel 24. After June 12, it will switch the digital station to VHF channel 7, the channel on which it is currently broadcasting its analog station. As part of the switch, KGO plans to physically move its transmitter up Sutro tower, which should allow the signal to reach more people in the area.