Alright, to break it down for everyone: if you own a TV that is analog (What is analog TV?) and you DO NOT currently subscribe to some form of cable or satellite broadcasting, or pay for a TV service, than you’ll have to upgrade to digital. You can do so by either getting cable or satellite, getting a new digital TV, subscribing to digital broadcast (like DirecTV, Dish Network, American Satellite) by February 17, 2009.

How many people will this affect? 

So, it is estimated that nearly 20 million homes use analog (over the air signals) solely in their home.

What are my options? 

You’ve got three options here: get a converter box, get a new TV with a built in digital tuner, or subscribe to cable or satellite.

It’s really quite simple, just kind of an inconvenience.

Something also to keep in mind is that this whole digital switch will only apply to full power TV stations. Some may still have an analog signal, so that converter box, cable, or new TV will be necessary if you want to have a full spectrum of all channels across all air waves.