On home screens, the shutdown message flashed for a minute in white text on a blue background, after which it was replaced by a seven-minute announcement video that will continue for several weeks on major island stations, explaining that the transition had occurred and what steps to take.

 

This experience also served as training and example for Japanese broadcasters, who are preparing for Japan's DTV conversion in July 2011 and most of it worked according to plan and according to the efforts to educate the consumers, but not everything was perfect. In order to deal with this possibility, residents lit up special TV help center phone lines set up by the Federal Communication Commission. The result: more than 300 calls only on Wednesday.

 

In spite of converter boxes and internal or external antennae, some viewers lost all or most of the stations they were used to watch, because of the difference between digital and analog signals.

 

Government officials and broadcasters estimate about 20,000 households in Hawaii which still get their TV signals over the air. This means that they have to buy new TV sets with digital tuners or digital converter boxes for their old TVs. After analog TV signals are turned off, residents with older TVs will be able to find out whether they are missing any channels or whether they have any service at all.

 

Government and broadcasters are expecting complaints when analog TV dies.