congress set to delay DTV.

[saprano]

All this advertising about the 17th for nothing?

January 23, 2009 | by Chuck McKenney
Apparently we just aren’t ready for the DTV transtion. And that has Congress scrambling to delay next month’s (Feb 17) deadline for all broadcasters to switch from analog to digital signals.

“The shameful truth is that we are not poised to do this transition right,” says Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller, D-W.V. “We are only weeks away from doing it dreadfully wrong — and leaving consumers with the consequences.”

Those consequences are life without TV for anyone using antennas to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals. According to Nielsen, more than 6.5 million U.S. households are not prepared for the transition.

A Senate vote on the delay is reportedly scheduled for next week. June 12 will likely be the new deadline.

The government has spent $1.34 billion on a campaign to educate consumers about the switch and for coupons to help pay for converter boxes.

The delay will come with a cost. Television stations will have to continue broadcasting both analog and digital signals. The FCC will have to pony up more cash for new PSAs informing consumers about the new deadline. And it forces the wireless companies and public safety agencies waiting to use the old analog spectrum to further delay their plans.

http://www.electronichouse.com/artic..._dtv_deadline/