There are a few weeks left before broadcasters are scheduled to replace analog television transmissions with digital programming. Business and emergency agencies are facing losses of millions of dollars if the Congress agrees to request from the new President of the United States’, Barack Obama, Administration to pass a law delaying the transition set for the 17^th of February.

 

The actual issue is not so much the new TV sales, but the older sets that people still hang on to but they are not affected by the transition. As for the people who rely on antennas of any kind that will lose their signals then.

 

Such customers will require a separate digital converter box to enable them to watch TV without cable or satellite service. This is why the question arises: should people go forward with the conversion as scheduled or delay its implementation until economic conditions improve?

 

This week, the House and Senate were expected to take up committee bills that would delay the transition nearly four months, until June 12. Nearly 8 million households, mostly low-income and elderly find themselves in this situation. Lawmakers say a delay will give them extra time to refill the coffers for a new federal coupon program that heavily subsidizes the cost of special TV-signal converter boxes. The Federal Communications Commission estimated that about 13 million coupons have not been redeemed, but the government cannot distribute more until they expire 90 days from the time they were mailed out. Consumers were able to request two coupons each, and took more than they needed.

 

President Obama has requested more than $650 million worth of coupons be allocated as part of his federal bailout plan. But in despite this move, it is expected that 4% of the population will ignore warnings about the transition until it is too late.