Analog shut-off postponed to June 12
Forget everything you’ve heard about the digital switch over! (Well, not everything.)
The US Senate approved a bill yesterday that postponed the shut-off deadline to June 12 instead of the current deadline of February 17. While it still has to pass in the House, we can now expect more commercials and print ads to continue for another four months.
Congress had allocated $1.34 billion for digital converter vouchers and many of them have not been redeemed (who wants to bet they all went to curious parties not intending on using them?). More vouchers will not be issued, but expired vouchers can be replaced for new ones.
While Congress seems well intentioned, electronics manufacturers aren’t too happy about the delay. The February 12, 2009 deadline was set years ago and much of the burden of upgrading customers was carried by the manufacturers. Panasonic said, “no matter what date you set, there are going to be people who are not ready.”
The date has changed, but the technical aspects haven’t. If you have cable or satellite you won’t be affected.
For more information on the digital switchover see our previous articles:
The Digital Switchover
Does your TV support digital broadcasts?
Free digital TV converter boxes
The Bill did not pass the House today. This means that the switchover is still on track for February unless a new bill passes the house and the senate again.