SEATTLE -- Digital television, or DTV. You've heard about it: the moment a year from now when, without changes, millions of televisions nationwide will stop working.

KIRO 7 Eyewitness Consumer Investigative Reporter David Quinlan tells what it will mean if you're not ready.

If you have an older TV, there's a good chance it will stop working Feb. 18, 2009 [update: the transition will occur on June 12, 2009]. Remember that date; that's when the signals TV sets receive will go blank.

The government is replacing the old analog signals with digital signals.

"I know it's going to cost me money if I want my TV working,” said Deborah White, of Covington.

White can't understand it. She's got two working TV's that soon will be obsolete.

"I need more information. i need to find out more on what is going on," she said.

White still uses an antenna to receive over-the air broadcasts. But come next year, that will change.

MORE ON THIS STORY Digital Television Information from KIROTV.com Info for consumers at dtv.gov FCC Consumer Facts

"It's going to be a huge deal, a huge deal," said Jill Novik, with Seattle's Department of Information and Technology.

She’s trying to spread the word: Digital television is coming. We need to be ready.

"I have no doubt that by Feb. 18, 2009, there will be a whole lot of people who will wake up and turn on their tv and it will be snow and they won’t know what to do," Novik said. [update: the transition will occur on June 12, 2009]

Millions of TV viewers nationwide who rely on roof top antennas or rabbit ears will be turned off. The signals our sets receive will go from analog to digital.

"There are three things you can do," she said.

You can buy a digital tuner for about $70, subscribe to cable or satellite or buy a digital TV.

"It's not like your TV is going to explode," said Jason Meadows with Best Buy.

Meadows has heard it all. He assures customers that there's an easy and inexpensive way to be ready.

"The government has made it available where you can get two $40 vouchers that will help you purchase a transition box that will be available in the next couple of months," he said.

Just hook up the tuner to your old TV and, voila, it still works. But not everyone is in the know.

"We are really trying to go deep into the neighborhoods to get information out to people," said Novik.

Roughly 120,000 Seattle residents will be affected by the switch. Many of them are seniors and non-English speakers.

"We are trying to get things out to all sorts of people. We have things translated. Anything we can to get hard to reach populations," Novik said.

"For people on fixed incomes, it's going to be hard. It's going to be hard to come up with another expense again," said Deborah White.

As for Deborah, one of her TVs is now connected to satellite. The rest of her sets will likely remain off.

“We're going to have TV's that we will not be able to use,” she said.

The government is replacing the old analog signals with digital signals.

If you purchased a television more than three years ago, there's a good chance that it’s an analog TV.

You can also check your TV manual or contact your manufacturer.