Audio Video News

The drive to delay the DTV transition cleared the Senate last night. However, the legislation now has a new twist--the delay is voluntary.

Broadcasters have the option of stopping analog television signals on February 17, as previously scheduled, or waiting till June 12. To proceed early, they will have to obtain a special waiver from the Federal Communications Commission. This addresses one of the main criticisms surrounding the delay. Waiting another four months would have disrupted plans to shut down analog towers and activate digital ones, incurring unexpected costs for TV stations. Now those who wish to proceed as scheduled can do so.

Since a lot of stations will be frequency hopping on the transition date, this will cause additional consternation for viewers trying to work out their final antenna choice and placement. For the past few years, many stations that traditionally operated in the VHF band have had additional HD outposts in the UHF band. Some of these are planning to ditch the UHF channels and move their digital broadcasts to VHF on the transition date. Others are planning to stay on UHF. So even if you're satisfied with your choice and placement of antenna in February, further issues may still emerge in June.

The purpose of the delay is to fix the rickety coupon program and get more subsidies for set-top adapters into the hands of poor and elderly viewers clinging to their analog sets. Legislators seem to be assuming that most stations will be willing to wait. Nielsen estimates that 6.5 million households have still not made arrangements for the transition, despite the bombardment of public service ads airing over the past few months.

Having cleared the Senate in a unanimous vote, the bill now moves on to the House of Representatives. The bill may see additional changes in reconciliation committee.