Senate OKs 4-month delay to digital TV changeover

The U.S. 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 — about 6.2 million households by some estimates — won't be ready for the currently scheduled Feb. 17 changeover.

"Delaying the upcoming DTV switch is the right thing to do," said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., author of the bill to push back the deadline. The issue now goes to the House, where Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has vowed to work with House leaders to bring Rockefeller's bill up for a floor vote on Tuesday.

President Barack Obama earlier this month called for the transition date to be postponed after the Commerce Department hit a $1.34 billion funding limit for government coupons that consumers may use to help pay for digital TV converter boxes.

A decision to delay the switch would change nothing but the date. It would still mean flipping off the switch on the analog system that has brought us television since television began. It would just change that date from Feb. 17 to June 12.

There remains some confusion about this concept of flipping the switch. It's an off-switch, not an on-switch.

The old analog signal will be flipped off for good. You'll never see it again.

But the switch for digital television has already been flipped on. You don't have to wait to see it; local stations are already transmitting digital signals.

This is not a question of whether you want to see programs in high definition, it's a question of whether you'll be able to see television at all. Digital TV and high-definition are not synonymous — all HD sets are digital, but not all digital sets are HD.

You can receive a digital signal on your old TV set (with a converter box); you have to buy a high-def TV to see programming in high definition.

What you need to know about the digital conversion remains the same:

If you're already connected to a cable or satellite system, you don't have to do anything. The digital conversion affects over-the-air broadcasts.

If you already own a digital television and you're receiving digital signals, you don't have to do anything. You're already converted to digital TV.

Most TV sets manufactured in 2004 or later have digital receivers. Almost none manufactured before 1998 do. Some of those manufactured from 1998-2003 do; some don't. (You'll have to check each of your television sets.)