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DTV Transition Partially Occurs, World Doesn't End Federal call center easily handles user calls, problems... 05:58PM Thursday Feb 19 2009 by Karl Bode About 421 of the nation's roughly 1,800 stations made the transition to digital broadcasts on the originally scheduled date (February 17), and so far the world has continued rotating. Fears that consumers weren't ready for the switch resulted in Congress extending the deadline into June, though TV stations were given the right to cut over ahead of the deadline -- as long as they got permission from the FCC. According to the Associated Press, the Federal call...

Nearly a quarter of television stations nationwide decided to stick with the original date for switching their broadcasts from analog to digital. The move left many households without signals, despite a massive campaign to educate viewers. Most people, however, were irritated with themselves for not acting sooner. About a quarter of the nation's TV stations cut off their analog signals Tuesday, causing sets to go dark in households that were not prepared for digital television despite two years of warnings about the transition. Though most viewers were ready -- and people with cable or satellite service were unaffected --...

The FCC released its latest digital TV transition figures Monday and 421 stations will terminate their analog signals as of midnight Feb. 17. That's in addition to the 220 that have already cut their analog signals off or will today. All told, 641 stations -- 36% of the country -- will have made the switch by the original hard date, according to the FCC data. Congress moved the date to June 12 at the urging of the then Obama transition team. The president signed the measure into law last Wednesday. The FCC says it has sent staffers to the 72...

President-elect Barack Obama is urging Congress to postpone the Feb. 17 switch from analog to digital television broadcasting. In a letter to key lawmakers, transition team co-chair John Podesta warned today that too many Americans who rely on analog TV sets to pick up over-the-air broadcasts won’t be ready. The incoming administration is pushing for a delay in part because the Commerce Department has run out of money for the coupons that subsidize digital TV converter boxes for consumers. People who don’t have cable or satellite TV or a new TV with a digital tuner will need the converter boxes...

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama is urging Congress to postpone the Feb. 17 switch from analog to digital television broadcasting, arguing that too many Americans who rely on analog TV sets to pick up over-the-air channels won't be ready. In a letter to key lawmakers Thursday, Obama transition team co-chair John Podesta noted that the Commerce Department has run out of money for coupons to subsidize digital TV converter boxes for consumers.

Add the switch to digital TV to the simple tasks the federal government has botched. Consumers Union (CU) wants Congress to delay the nation's conversion from analog to digital because the government-mandated and -run transition has been so poorly implemented, and despite $1.34 billion, woefully underfunded. The switch resolves a complicated tug of war between the broadcast and cable industries that spanned decades. Four years ago, Congress passed legislation requiring conversion to digital by Feb. 17. As part of the deal, it promised $40 coupons toward the cost of converter boxes, which cost up to $80, for the estimated 10...

MORRIS — Frances Zurlys won't be able to watch "Oprah" on television after Feb. 17 when she and as many as 5 percent of the state could see their analog televisions go black. The 84-year-old Waterbury native has a television she bought for $5 at a tag sale years ago and uses an inside antenna to get the signal. Television sets equipped with digital tuners and those connected to cable and satellite systems will continue to display programs. Those still relying on antennas — either indoor or outdoor — must have a $50-$70 converter box attached in order to continue...

<p>WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama is urging Congress to postpone the Feb. 17 switch from analog to digital television broadcasting, arguing that too many Americans who rely on analog TV sets to pick up over-the-air channels won't be ready.</p>

Switch from analog signals deemed too important to leave in private hands, with predictable results. If you watch TV for more than a few minutes a day, you have probably seen ads and public service announcements about the Feb. 17 changeover from analog to digital television broadcasting. During the other transition, several officials of the incoming Obama administration have suggested pushing back the transition date three months, and West Virginia Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller has submitted a bill to push back the date to June 12. Why the fumbling and confusion? The short answer is that the government, beginning as...

WASHINGTON – 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. Monday's Senate vote is a big victory for the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress, who have been pushing for a delay amid growing concerns that too many Americans won't be ready for the currently scheduled Feb. 17 changeover. The Nielsen Co. estimates that more than 6.5 million U.S. households that rely on analog television sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast...

Washington, D.C. (January 27, 2009) -- The U.S. Senate last night voted to delay the nation's switch to Digital TV from Feb. 17 to June 12 and the House could do the same as early as today. On February 17, 2009, all full-powered local stations are scheduled to switch their analog signals to digital which means viewers will need a Digital TV, a digital converter box or a pay TV subscription to continuing watching television. But the Obama administration has urged Congress to delay the transition from analog to digital, saying that millions of people are not ready for the...

House GOP Blocks Bill to Delay Digital TV Transition By FAWN JOHNSON WASHINGTON -- House Republicans on Wednesday derailed an effort to delay until June the date when television stations must broadcast in all-digital format. House Democratic leaders brought the bill to the floor under a procedure intended for noncontroversial bills, requiring a two-thirds majority to pass. With Republican opposition, the 258-168 vote didn't meet that threshold. Democratic leaders could bring the bill back to the floor under normal voting rules requiring a simple majority, which would ensure passage. The Senate passed the same measure on a unanimous vote Monday...

WASHINGTON - Bucking the Obama administration, House Republicans on Wednesday defeated a bill to postpone the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting to June 12 — leaving the current Feb. 17 deadline intact for now.

Bill passed Senate almost unanimously. House shot it down today. All TV transmissions set to go digital Feb 17th.

WASHINGTON, Jan 28 (Reuters) - An effort to delay the Feb. 17 deadline for a nationwide switch to digital television failed in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday after Republicans blocked the move. The legislation is backed by President Barack Obama and already passed the U.S. Senate. However, it failed to gain the required two-thirds support in the House under special rules adopted for the vote.

The House of Representatives yesterday rejected a measure that would have pushed the Digital TV deadline from Feb. 17 to June 12. The House voted 258-168 in favor of the delay, but the bill needed a two-thirds majority to pass under rules approved for its consideration; the legislation fell 26 votes short of the two-thirds majority. The defeat surprised many industry observers who thought the delay was assured when the Senate earlier in the week approved it by a voice vote. However, House Republicans opposed the delay, saying it would further confuse consumers. Despite yesterday's defeat, House Democratic leaders remained...

Chicago (IL) - The transition to digital television (DTV) has taken long enough in the opinions of many, and if the deadline is pushed back any further it will mean that faster wireless broadband will also be delayed. But why? On February 17th, 2009, analog broadcast television stations will be forced to transfer all of their programming to digital channels as part of a process which reclaims the valuable frequencies in the 700MHz band for subsequent delivery to mobile broadband providers. The Federal government has made many attempts to prepare consumers for the switch, and currently the Obama administration is...

A pair of call centers logged around 900 calls yesterday, but organizers of Hawaii's early switch to digital TV are calling the mission a success. The state shut off analog TV yesterday at noon, and did so with what appears to be a manageable level of issues from viewers. "There were no major surprises," says Hawaii Association of Broadcasters President Chris Leonard. There was a wide range of questions from viewers, some wondering how to hook up their converter boxes and some wondering why they weren't receiving a signal. Despite the state's-and the nation's-considerable efforts to spread the DTV message,...

The Digital TV transition is now a total mess. Even if you don't think next month's transition date should be moved, you would be hard pressed to argue that things are going smoothly. President-elect Obama, numerous congressmen and two ex-FCC chairmen have called for a delay in the transition; the feds have run out of money for digital converter boxes; Nielsen says as many as 7 million homes are completely unprepared for the switch; and some studies indicate that million more will lose some TV signals because of weak antennas and other issues. But House Republicans and others pushing for...

For the second straight time, a FCC-sponsored NASCAR auto, designed to promote next year's Digital TV transition, has been involved in an accident. But FCC Chairman Kevin Martin says that's a good thing. "Except for the cars that win the races, the cars that are in wrecks get a lot of attention," Martin told reporters Monday, according to Reuters. Martin and the FCC have been under fire for spending $350,000 to sponsor the car which promotes a web site (DTV.gov) notifying Americans about the digital transition which takes place on February 17, 2009. The Wall Street Journal reports that watchdog...

We’re pathetic. As a nation, taken together, we are the biggest collection of spoiled, helpless pansies the world has ever known. The converter boxes prove it. You know what I’m talking about. For a year they’ve been pounding it into our heads. Seriously, if you beamed down here from another planet, and based your assessment of what mattered most on what you heard the most about, it would be converter boxes. There have been countless mentions, countless little crawls across the bottom of the television screen, countless panels of “experts” waiting to answer your questions. The background is that the...

A proposed delay in the digital television transition will apparently have no impact on Hawaii's go-early time of noon Thursday. "We're planning to do the transition as scheduled Jan. 15, 2009, in accordance with the request from Hawaii's broadcasting community," said Lyle Ishida, Hawaii DTV transition manager for the Federal Communications Commission. A proposal by the Consumers Union Wednesday spread through Washington, D.C. like wildfire and was reiterated by President-elect Barack Obama yesterday, citing concern for consumers unprepared for the Feb. 17 national transition date. As of Monday, Hawaii requests for DTV converter box coupons were at 53,012, while...

President-elect Barack Obama this week has joined the growing chorus of people who have concluded that the nation is not ready for next month's Digital TV transition. In a letter to key lawmakers urging that the February 17 switch to digital be delayed, Obama's transition chief cited a litany of issues including the fact that federal funds for digital converter coupons have run out. While Obama's transition team is correct to point out that the digital transition could force millions of people to lose their TV signals, the President-elect is woefully late to address this problem. By calling for a...

Consumers Union is urging Congress to delay the nation's transition to digital television, saying the program to help TV viewers prepare for the switch next month has been underfunded and poorly implemented. In a letter sent last night to President Bush, President-elect Barack Obama, House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) and Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), the consumer advocacy group said Congress should push back the transition "until a plan is in place to minimize the number of consumers who will lose TV signals." The request comes two days after the federal government said it...

The Federal Communications Commission sponsored a Nascar race car as part of its effort to inform Americans that on Feb. 18, television signals transmitted over the air will be transmitted solely in digital format. Old TV sets will no longer work. It paid $350,000 to emblazon “The Digital TV Transition” and other phrases on a Ford driven by David Gilliland. So how’s that going? In November, the car crashed during a Nascar race in Phoenix. It was the second crash in as many months. And how is the digital TV transition going? According to critics, about as well, despite a...