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Antenna Users, It's Time To Rescan Your TVs Again If You Want To Watch WJZ

Updated: Aug. 3, 2020

You've may have seen the promos asking digital antenna users to rescan their TV's for over the air channels last month. But, even when you rescanned you lost our signal.

Well now it's time to rescan again, if you lost us!

Anyone who lives outside the Baltimore County area who was unable to receive WJZ after July 2nd rescan, should again try to rescan their TV channels. We've transitioned back to our main antenna.

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You may be wondering, why we had to switch antennas? Well, the FCC mandated certain stations across the country switch to a new frequency to open up space in the airwaves.

"When it all settles, to the consumer, there won't really be a difference," said special technical projects manager Rick Seaby.

Everything from satellites to cell phones take up space on the radio frequency spectrum. It's been determined that television stations take up more space than needed, so we're being asked to condense our signals to allow for more room for entities like cell phone carriers.

"The explosion of cell phones and everything wireless has put a demand for extra channels to the cellular carriers," Seaby said.

This could allow for things like better access to 5G Internet, but what does it mean for your TV?

"Basically, their TV has to memorize where the channels are again," Seaby said.

After the rescan, you'll still find us on Channel 13 dash 1.

To do this you have to rescan for your channels, and it's actually pretty simple. Hit the menu button on your remote. Find the option to antenna, and click scan. You're TV will do the rest.

Just to reiterate. This isn't for those who watch us through a cable, or satellite provider.  If you watch on FIOS or Comcast, you wouldn't notice any changes. This is only for those who watch us over the air.

Here's a step-by-step on how to rescan your channels.

For more information, visit the FCC site or call 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322) and press option 6 or go to TVAnswers.org

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