Ensuring Hispanic Households Remain Connected to Local TV Stations

By: Alex Nogales – National Hispanic Media Coalition

Over 4.8 million Hispanic households across the nation rely on over-the-air television, representing 15.8 million Hispanic over-the-air viewers. In fact, 29 percent of Hispanics use an antenna to receive their programming, a number that increases to 38 percent when accounting for Spanish-speaking households.  Latino communities depend heavily on over-the-air television for their news, weather, educational programming and emergency information. In fact, many people in our communities rely exclusively on free local broadcasts. Viewers who watch local TV stations for free with an antenna may soon have to rescan their TVs or converter boxes to make sure they stay connected to local TV stations.

Recently, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – the agency that regulates the public airwaves – reallocated some broadcast TV airwaves for wireless internet services. As a result, nearly 1,000 TV stations across the country must move to new frequencies. These frequency moves, or the “spectrum repack,” began in 2018 and will continue through 2020. Currently, the process is in the second phase, which may impact a station in your area.

Ensuring that these households remain connected to local TV stations when they change frequencies is vital to our community. We cannot afford for anyone to be disconnected.

So, what does that mean for you? If you need an antenna to watch your television, you will need to rescan your TV or converter box after your local station changes frequencies. If your TV is connected to cable or satellite service, you do not need to do anything.  

Because stations will be moving at different times, you may need to rescan more than once. These moves are happening behind the scenes, so you will still find your favorite stations on the same channel numbers as before. If you do not take action, you will lose access to some of the free, local stations and programming you currently enjoy.

Visit TV Answers to learn how to rescan your TV or find out when stations in your area will move frequencies.

For additional updates and information, follow TV Answers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or call the FCC consumer call center toll-free at 1-888-CALLFCC (1-888-225-5322) and press “6” to speak to a help desk representative between 8 a.m. and 1 a.m. (EST).

For more information about the National Hispanic Media Coalition, you can check out our website at nhmc.org. For the latest updates, follow us on Facebook @nhmc.org or on Twitter @nhmc.

#PlanToRescan

About Alex Nogales

Alex Nogales, President and CEO of the National Hispanic Media Coalition, collected over thirty commendations for excellence in television production and three Emmy Awards earned during his thirteen-year tenure at KCBS TV. Elected NHMC’s President in the late nineties, Alex has led high-profile demonstrations against major media corporations for their exclusion of American Latinos and been instrumental in the signing of agreements with the major television networks to guarantee their commitment to diversity. Under Alex’s leadership NHMC has increasingly engaged on media and telecommunications policies that impact Latino communities.