Bill to delay digital TV switch in works

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24 (UPI) -- A move to delay the planned Feb. 17 switchover from analog to digital television broadcasts will likely be approved soon, a key U.S. senator says.

Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., said Friday the long-awaited mandated effort by broadcasters to move their over-the-air signals to the digital spectrum should be pushed back to June 12 because many consumers have not obtained the converter boxes necessary to decode the new signals, The Washington Post reported.

"The shameful truth is that we are not poised to do this transition right," Rockefeller said in a statement. "We are only weeks away from doing it dreadfully wrong -- and leaving consumers with the consequences."

Rockefeller has introduced a bill to delay the switchover after reaching a compromise with Republicans, with a vote to approve the measure expected next week, the Post said.

Analysts told Congress Thursday that more than 6.5 million U.S. households are still without digital-to-analog converter boxes. Nearly 3 million consumers are on a federal waiting list for coupons to pay for part of the cost of purchasing digital converter boxes after the program ran out of funding, the newspaper said.