Senate passes ANOTHER DTV Delay

In a comedy of congressional dialogue, this week the Senate passed a bill to delay the digital TV cutoff to June which the House then voted down. Now, the Senate has unanimously passed another bill to delay the DTV cutoff which it is sending to the House again. This time, the switchover's delay will be voluntary. No broadcaster will be required to switch over on February 17, but will have until June 2009 to do so.

My guess is this one will pass the House. The question is whether it will really make any difference in the end. The only advantage after all to the broadcasters is power savings.

Nomad is Right...Again.

Nomad was right again with his prediction that the congress would delay the digital television change over. The Senate voted unanimously last night to delay the change over until June. Television stations will be allowed to change if they are ready, but will not be forced to until June. One of the main factors is that the Coupon program to help Americans buy digital converter boxes has run out of money, so this will give congress time to reallocate money to that fund. It will be interesting to see if this changeover happens this year.