For more than a quarter of the nation’s total of around 1,800 television stations, today’s the day they will shut down their analog broadcasts for good, on the initially scheduled date for the digital transition.

Starting today, February 17, some 600 television stations all over the country will stop being available for consumers with older TV sets that rely on over-the-air signals.

Despite new legislation approved by the Congress to delay the transition until June 12, out of concern for the public that wasn’t prepared to make the switch, 641 outlets nationwide will be ending their analog broadcast signals by today, at around 11:59 p.m..

The most populous markets where many or all major-network stations are cutting analog include San Diego and Santa Barbara, Calif.; Providence, R.I.; La Crosse and Madison, Wis.; Rockford, Ill.; Sioux City, Iowa; Waco, Texas; Macon, Ga.; Scranton, Pa.; and Burlington, Vt.

Among them, four Southwest Florida local network affiliate broadcast stations, ABC7, CW6, NBC2 and WINK, will shut down their analog broadcasting at about noon today.

Four Bay Area television stations, including KCNS (Channel 38), KOFY (Channel 20), KICU (Channel 36) and KFTY (Channel 50) will also cease analog transmissions today.

In the Tampa Bay area, five more TV stations will eliminate their analog signal ahead of the June 12 deadline: PBS station WEDU (Channel 3) MyNetworkTV affiliate WTTA (Channel 38,) Univision affiliate WVEA-TV, Sarasota ABC affiliate WWSB (Channel 7) and Christian Television Network station WCLF (Channel 22).

Other four stations in the Rhode Island area, WJAR and WLNE-TV, which broadcast in Providence-New Bedford, WNAC-TV, and WPRI-TV, are also expected to go ahead with the switch.

An additional 191 full-power stations have already turned off analog nationwide.

In the meantime, Philadelphia-area broadcasters, will continue to beam both analog and digital signals.

Earlier this month, Congress decided to postpone the transition, scheduled years ago for February 17, but gave stations the option to switch earlier if they met some newly imposed regulations by the Federal Communications Commission. Only late Friday did it become clear, or nearly so, which stations would shut down analog four days later, and which would wait for a few more months.

Ceasing analog broadcasts can save stations a significant amount of money, as much as $20,000 a month, according to industry sources.
Consumers with older TV sets who do not have cable or satellite reception must purchase a converter box from an electronics store to receive the new digital transmissions. Alternatively, they can buy a TV with a digital tuner or subscribe to cable or satellite.

In order to make the switch go smoother for consumers, the federal government is still issuing $40 coupons for converter boxes through a website, www.dtv2009.gov.