Legislation moving the digital television transition from Feb. 17 to June 12 now moves to the White House where President Barack Obama is expected to sign the bill. Democrats insist the delay is necessary and will be for one time only since public safety officials and winners of the 700 MHz spectrum auction are waiting to occupy the analog spectrum being deserted by television broadcasters.
The Senate has voted to delay for four months the switch to digital TV meant to occur in a mere three weeks, giving President Barack Obama the national breather he sought and setting up a House vote which could occur as early as Tuesday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — 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.
WASHINGTON (AP) — With the clock ticking toward the Feb. 17 deadline for TV broadcasters to shut off their analog signals and go entirely digital, analysts say more than 6.5 million households are not ready. Now Congress appears poised to postpone the transition to June — but a delay could bring its own problems…
The long and short of it is that Obama doesn’t think Americans are ready for the Feb. 17 digital TV transition. He wants to postpone the deadline. The NTIA is asking for another $250 million for the coupon program. This is a very good news for people who are on the waiting list.
Here is the news article.