On Wednesday March 11th, Rockford’s Fox 39 will change its broadcast frequency. Viewers whose televisions use an antenna will need to rescan their TVs to continue receiving the station. The channel number will not change.
Jean Kiddoo, Chair of the FCC Incentive Auction Task Force, described how a rescan works: “Essentially what it is, is that the TV is going to go back out into the airwaves and retrain itself to find all the local channels which will include the channel 39 on its new frequency.”
Kiddoo explained that the rescan is a straightforward process.
"Essentially what a rescan is basically doing the same thing that a viewer needed to do when they set up their TV in the first place. When you buy a TV and you hook up an antenna, the TV is not preprogrammed with local channels in it so the viewer needs to scan the TV to find the local channels.”
Viewers who use cable or satellite will not be affected by the change. The FCC is making these frequency changes to open spaces for new high speed wireless services.
More information on how to rescan a television and why the changes are happening can be found at the FCC website. Viewers who need assistance can get help by calling 1 888 CALLFCC (1-888-225-5322).