A week after the Senate voted to extend until June 12th the date for TV stations to switch their broadcast signals from analog to digital, Congress yesterday followed suit. Even though broadcasters have said that they were prepared to make the switch on the previously mandated February 17th, lawmakers and consumer advocates have argued that citizens need more time to figure out which set-top boxes they'll need to ensure that they can keep watching their shows.
That sounds reasonable in theory. But in practice, the way that this delay has been structured could make this transition more confusing than it would otherwise have been. According to the Los Angeles Times:
TV stations will be allowed to seek a federal waiver to turn off their analog signals before the new deadline. So instead of nearly all broadcasters making the switch Feb. 17, stations now may do so at different times over the next four months....Several broadcasters have already stated their intention to make the switch Feb. 17, regardless of whether Congress moves the date.
Some stations will maintain their analog signals for a while; others won't. Some will switch early--in fact, 143 of the nation's 1800 stations have already gone all-digital--others will wait. All of this will only serve to befuddle TV watchers and frustrate TV stations, some of which are now facing added costs to maintain their analog signal for another four months. Only time will tell whether the cure was worse than the disease.
