READ: The analog TV airwaves in the Philippines is about to sunset by the end of the year

In a recent news article from Malaya Business Insight, that according to the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the analog TV airwaves in the Philippines will begin to shut down by the end of 2024, starting in Mega Manila, where it had a higher penetration to pick up all the digital channels within that area, including those who have been subscribed to pay TV services (i.e. Cable and Satellite).

Thus, by December 31, 2024, as according to Alvin Blanco, the deputy commissioner of the telecommunications regulatory body, will be considered as the start of the process of analog to digital switchover.

The Philippines, as you may probably know, uses NTSC-M for the analog transmission (which is also used in the United States, where it shuttered it’s analog television in June 12, 2009 for full power stations), whereas ISDB-T was the digital terrestrial television standard was used in here (which is also used in Japan, Latin America, and some in Africa).

Now what does the analog TV shutdown means to you? It means that the existing analog television service in the Philippines (i.e. in Mega Manila, RF Channels 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 25, 27, 37, 41, and 48) is about to an end beginning by the end of the year, if your TV set is not yet prepared for the switch. If it does, consider switching to digital.

You need a Digital Set Top Box (i.e. ABS-CBN’s TVplus, GMA’s Affordabox, TV5’s Sulit TV, Baron DTV Box, or any TV Set with an ISDB-T Tuner) and an UHF Antenna in order to pickup digital TV channels in your area. A UHF Antenna is needed since the digital television frequencies are mostly allocated to UHF, i.e. DTV RF Channels 14 to 51.

Then connect the digital set top box (if your TV is not DTV Ready) to the AV/HDMI Port of your TV, and the antenna to the set top box (if your TV is DTV Ready, connect the UHF Antenna directly to the “RF IN” or “Antenna In” port to the back of your TV).

Plug in your TV and the Digibox to the main power outlet, and turn your TV on. Look for the source from where you connect the digibox (press the “Source” button of your TV), and once you find it, using the remote that came in the digibox, complete the first time setup instructions and begin a digital channel scan, i.e. pressing the “SCAN” button on your Digibox remote. You may need to position your antenna that is far and away from any electronic devices in order to find more channels during the scanning process and to get a good digital TV reception in your area.

Alternatively, you can also subscribe to a Pay TV Service (i.e. Cable and Satellite) to watch your favorite shows, or if you have Internet at home, you can watch them through ABS-CBN’s Kapamilya Online Live and iWantTFC, GMA’s Kapuso Stream and GMA Network App, or TV5’s Livestream and CignalPlay.

PHCA CID: PHCA-2024H2-7680