PBS 45/49 to go digital

KENT — The Public Broadcasting System station that serves the Mahoning Valley will become the first local television to switch to digital broadcasting.

PBS 45/49 will cease analog broadcasting on Nov. 19, and begin broadcasting digitally on Nov. 21. It will be off-the-air between those dates.

Congress has mandated that all television broadcasters switch to a digital signal, and pull the plug on their analog signal, on Feb. 17. Almost all commercial channels — including WFMJ-21, WKBN-27 and WYTV-33 of Youngstown — are already broadcasting in both digital and analog.

PBS 45/49 didn’t have much choice in going first. Unlike the other stations in the area, it needs to install transmission equipment before the changeover to improve signal power, according to station manager Bill O’Neil. When the station attempted to hire contractors, it learned that it had a small window to get the job done because the demand from other stations had stretched the company thin.

Read the full story in Monday’s Vindicator and on vindy.com