Senate Pushes Back DTV Transition
Posted in: Television, Today's Chili
Get set to mark your calendars. The deadline for the transition from analog to digital broadcasting could change.
Broadcasters were set to move to digital transmission starting Feb. 17
but now the U.S. Senate has voted to push it back to June 12 to give consumers more time to make the switch.
The Senate support for the move comes after President Barack Obama suggested delaying the process.
Earlier this month, Congressman Ed Markey warned many consumers could be left in the cold as funding for
converter box coupons that can make analog TV sets digital-ready could
fall short.
The new deadline could help buy time to bridge that gap.
The House is also expected to vote on a similar legislation and likely extend the expiration date on all converter box coupons to Sept. 15, says the Wall Street Journal. If the House passes the bill and President supports it, the new deadline will become final.
There are an estimated 300 million TVs in the U.S., of which about 70
million use antennas and require a converter box to switch to DTV.
Photo: (dailyinvention/Flickr)
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