Digital TV Switch Is a Boon for One DC-Area Station

The switch to digital TV has caused static and headaches for thousands of viewers in the Washington region. But for one local station, the transition has been something of a revival. MHz Networks, based in Falls Church, has carved out a niche for international programming over the past 15 years, showing Russian newscasts, Nigerian documentaries and Italian mysteries, to name a few of its offerings. To build its digital antenna and boost the signal's power, MHz shut off analog to its two channels in September -- the first station in the country to do so -- leaving many viewers who were not yet equipped to receive digital signals believing it had simply disappeared. But on June 12, when viewers hooked up converter boxes and scanned for digital stations, MHz came through at full strength.