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About Digital Channels
Currently, all broadcasters have an analog TV channel and a digital TV channel.
The digital bandwidth has the capability of accommodating more than one
program stream because each broadcaster’s assigned digital channel carries a
19.39-megabit-per-second (Mbps) digital data stream. This allows the
broadcaster the option of broadcasting a single program or dividing the digital
data stream into multiple programming streams. These streams include the
“major” channel specific to a broadcasting station, as well as any additional
programming streams on the bandwidth, which are referred to as “minor
channels” or “sub-channels,” each broadcasting a different program. As a result,
the numbering system for digital channels is different than that of traditional
analog TV.
Here’s how it works:
• Each physical channel is mapped to one or more digital channel numbers,
known as “virtual channels,” and represented by a number, followed by a
dot and then another number; for example, 7.1, 7.2, etc. (the old analog
channel is always referenced to minor channel “0”, as in 7.0, while 7.1
would represent the new digital television channel)
- The first number is the major channel used for all channels of a
particular broadcasting station
- The number following the dot is the minor channel number assigned to
each broadcaster’s additional programming streams; digital television
stations may have only one virtual channel, or as many as six