This week, July 13th, low-power TV (LPTV) stations in the USA were to cease/terminate analog transmission. This follows the earlier conversion to digital of Full Power (FP) + Class A TV stations. Unless I’m missing something this brings to an end the Analog TV era in the USA. The end came unceremoniously.

A 2012 report listed 2,224 TV stations (FP & A) with FCC-assigned call letters. For those with way too much time on their hands, 77% of these operated on channels 14-51, 20.5% on channels 7-13, and 2.5% on channels 2-6. As an aside there were almost as many LPTV stations as the 2,224 # above.

Earlier in 2021 Forbes reported, probably to the surprise of nobody under 65, that streaming viewership on TV sets (USA) now exceeds broadcast viewership on TV sets. So we have the death of one transmission method (analog) on a dying breed of TV viewing. The funeral this week might not be well attended but it’s a funeral nonetheless.