Congress postpones US switchover
February 6, 2009
After weeks of debate, US Congress has confirmed it will give consumers four more months to prepare for the upcoming transition from analogue to digital television broadcasting.
The House voted 264-158 to postpone the shutdown of analogue TV signals to June 12th, to address growing concerns that too many Americans won’t be ready by the February 17th deadline that Congress set three years ago.
The Nielsen Co. estimates that more than 6.5 million US households that rely on analogue TV sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals still are not ready. People who subscribe to cable or satellite TV or have a newer TV with a digital tuner will not be affected.
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