Today (February 2), the Alsace will become the first French region to switch off all analogue television transmitters. Following tests by the transmitters in Coulommiers, Kaysersberg and Cherbourg, all analogue broadcasts were switched off at midnight.
According to research, about 32.5% of Alsatian households are still dependent on terrestrial reception. Without a digital DVB-T receiver, these people will find themselves facing a black screen. Some 24 analogue transmitters are involved in the process.
Today, between 10 o’clock in the morning till six in the evening, the digital transmitters will be switched on, allowing Alsatians with receivers adapted to receive the free-to-air (and encrypted) channels of what the French call TNT. A special help-line has been opened to answers questions from the general public.
People who receive television via cable, DTH satellite or IPTV are of course not affected. For an overview of the new transmitters in the region, go to the website of the French media authority CSA.