Steps Joplin area residents need to continue receiving KOZJ

(From the City of Joplin)

The City of Joplin received notification from Becky Lockhart, Outreach Specialist in the Federal Communications Commission’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau’s Consumer Affairs and Outreach Division about an upcoming broadcast transition. 

The following information was provided by Lockhart and is being printed in its entirety for the public to assist them in receiving the KOZJ-Joplin channel after a broadcast transition:

We understand that there will be a broadcast transition in your community scheduled to be completed by 9/4/2018. You may have already seen several public service announcements being aired by your local over-the-air broadcasters advising on what steps consumers need to take to continue receiving channels.

The station that will be transitioned in Joplin is KOZJ.

Part of my role at the FCC is to provide information to consumers and community organizations. In advance of the transition, here are some resources that may assist with answering questions posed by your constituents regarding upcoming changes.

A consumer-focused FAQ providing an over view of the broadcast transition that resulted from the Incentive Auction is available at https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/consumer-faqs-tv-spectrum-auction. Clicking on the upper right corner of the page will provide general rescanning information (but not the video) in Spanish, Tagalog, Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese.

• One of the most important messages is reminding consumers to rescan. A video on this topic is available at fcc.gov/rescan. The video is only available in English. A general overview of rescanning is available in Spanish, Tagalog, Korean, Chinese and Vietnamese by clicking on information.
• The FCC has updated its DTV Maps to include information related to the broadcast transition. This tool is available at fcc.gov/maps/dtv-maps. By entering information about your location, you will be able to see what channels are transmitting in your area.
• Consumer Guides addressing broadcast issues are available at https://www.fcc.gov/general/broadcast-cable-and-satellite-guides.
• Consumers who would like to file a complaint can do so at our online Consumer Complaint Center located at consumercomplaints.fcc.gov.
• A consumer-focused video providing an overview of the transition is available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hvaM3_x4vM.
• By scrolling down to the For Partners section on our webpage fcc.gov/outreach, you will be able to download a rescan tip card. If needed I can send you copies of this card to share with your contacts.

What does this mean for consumers?

What this means is that the station is changing the frequency that it submits its TV signals on. The actual channel that people tune in to watch will not change. But since there are technical changes to the signal that the channel is being transmitted on, TV antennas and DTV converter boxes will not automatically receive the channel once this change (or as we refer to it - broadcast transition) occurs.

People who use antennas to view over-the-air broadcast TV will need to rescan their TVs or converter boxes to receive the channel.

If people subscribe to cable or satellite or other companies to receive TV – they will not have to do anything because these providers handle the technical aspects of the transition.

Additional Info...