Written by: Tom Rieland
Date: March 31, 2009
At 7am on March 31, WOSU television shut off its analog signal. TV Chief Engineer Tom Lahr was at the Westerville transmitter to shut down WOSU, while Engineer Ling Ling Sun was at the Fawcett Center to remotely shut down WPBO in Portsmouth. Each transmitter was placed into the standby mode to kill the carrier and then sequenced through the off mode.
This was a historical moment for WOSU Public Media. The analog TV34 went on the air over 53 years ago from the original transmitter and tower site on North Star Road at the edge of the Ohio State campus. For well over a year now, we have been planning for this moment and preparing viewers for the switch. Thanks to everyone who played a role in the transition, as well at the outreach around it. As of 10:30am this morning, the DTV call center had only received about six phone calls.
Tom Lahr, Station Manager Ed Clay and myself were on WOSU AM’s Open Line with Fred Andrle this morning answering questions about the transition and hearing about reception issues. Less than 2.9 percent of the households in the Columbus area have been designated as “unready” for the switch to digital.
Thanks to everyone for all efforts around the DTV transition. It really was a TEAM effort!
The final video segment before going off the air including a review of our WOSU TV 34 IDs through the five decades ending with an upside down logo. In 1956, when WOSU went on the air, the first thing anyone saw was a slide of the ID that was misplaced in the slide chain upside down. So, it was kind of an inside joke that we ended broadcast of analog in the same manner. Thanks to John Prosek and Ryan Witt for producing this.