NEWS: Senate 'OK's 4-month Delay to Digital TV Turnover

So after all the "Are you ready for the switch to digital TV?" commercials, advertisements and blog posts—hey, we're guilty, too!—it looks like there might not be a rush to run out and digital-ready your home set by February 17. The Senate on Monday voted unanimously to postpone the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting by four months to June 12 — setting the stage for Congress to pass the proposal as early as Tuesday.

Yahoo! reports that Monday's Senate vote is a big victory for the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress, who have been pushing for a delay worried that too many Americans won't be ready for the currently scheduled transition.

But President Barack Obama called for the transition date to be postponed after the Commerce Department hit a $1.34 billion funding limit for the handout government coupons that give consumers a discount on digital-to-analog converter boxes.

The Nielsen Co. estimates that more than 6.5 million U.S. households rely on analog television sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals.

Are you still rocking bunny ears at home? How about your folks? Were you all set for the digital transition, or is this 4-month deadline shift going to help you or your family out a bit?

[ Image from SarahDeer@Flickr ]

Comments (4)

Yanno, they've been talking about this for so long, it's really a shame to people who still haven't made the switch.

posted by grafxnerd on January 27th 2009 at 10:51am
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I got the boxes in August and lemme tell you, they suck donkey .... I went from being an obessive tv person to only using the tv for my video games/dvds. Maybe it's a good thing that they cut in and out and lose the god damned signal so much you cant watch tv. I was told the signal would get better, but I still can't watch certain networks at all. BOOOO Digital TV.

posted by chusmabilly on January 27th 2009 at 11:40am
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They should have just kept the February date. If people still aren't ready now, they won't be in June.

posted by DriveBot on January 27th 2009 at 12:28pm
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I have my converter box, but no signal for some stations... even the ones I get are spotty at times. Now I see commercials telling me I have to get a new outdoor antenna to get my signals. Wonderful. Cause, you know, I live in an apartment that already has enough issues as an older building (there is a new leak around here about every month).

I could buy a fancy indoor antenna that may not work, I could build a fancy indoor antenna that may not work, or I could play more video games and just watch shows on Hulu. I pick the last option.

posted by shabadeux on January 27th 2009 at 12:42pm
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