I think the delay is a mistake. Every station in our area and ton's of web sites have been stating that Feb 17, 2009 is the day. Now they will have to say "just kiding" and delay to June 12, 2009. I bet that just as many people will still not be ready. Since many stations were planning on changing the frequency, location or other transmitting plans, they will have to come up with new plans which will cost yet more money. Sometimes we just need to move on and everyone will catch up sooner or later.

What a waste of time and money.

Thanks for the misinformation. The Senate passed a bill delaying it, but the House has not yet passed it and Obama hasn't signed it, so it's not yet delayed.

I'm opposed to a delay, but I think our "leaders" are going to delay it because of perception.


Pure political nonsense. There is nothing to suggest this has been "mismanaged" at all. The "problem" is that 4-8 million people ignored the rampant PSAs on TV, radio, billboards, and magazines for the past 18 months.

Um how about you fix the headline because the Digital Switch has most certainly NOT been officially delayed. The Senate has merely passed a bill for the delay but neither the House has signed off on it or Obama. Obama has spoken out against so even IF the House approves Obama could veto or pocket veto it and it would accomplish nothing.

Nice mis-information though.

Someone sure misunderstands the legislative process...

I'm in favor of the delay. Digital signals are not watchable over as long a range as the analog signals, and the original February cut-over date was obviously not planned by someone who is concerned about people climbing up on their snowy rooftops to upgrade their antennas. The inconvenient date was probably concocted by someone more interested in auctioning off the spectrum to big campaign contributors, as well has giving people more incentive to switch to a pay service like cable. Plus, my local stations haven't figured out how to sync the sound and picture yet.

OBAMA is in favor of the delay, he's the moron responsible for this mess. We shouldn't be spending tax payer money on stupid entertainment items like converter boxes so people can sit and watch TV? The economy is in the tank yet there are people who think we should be giving away money so people can watch TV? What's wrong with is? Obama is as retarded as the rest of them...then again, what man can really lead the step of another?

NTSC Fan obviously have zero clue of how this program actually works.

This delay is mad stupid. watch, 1/2 yr later those ppl who still didn't upgrade will be there and, when the switch happens, they be like "whaaaat theeee heellll is going on to my tv?", then they will start go out and buy new ones. bunch of retarded fuxks

"And while the transition from analog to digital doesn't seem like a big deal to some (after all, it's just TV), the step towards digital transmission is necessary in freeing up air space for bigger, better things."

This is true enough. There are a lot of things we can do with this free air space. Think TRUE Wi-Fi.

"Thankfully, the new June 12 deadline will get everyone on board and into the Digital Age."

Wow that's flawed logic......let's give procrastinators more time. That'll fix the problem for sure!!!! Riiiiigghhhhttt

True this is jumping the gun on the headline but it'll probably pass.....much to my dismay.

What he/she said ---->

Quote :
Digital TV Switchover Officially Delayed
Thanks for the misinformation. The Senate passed a bill delaying it, but the House has not yet passed it and Obama hasn't signed it, so it's not yet delayed.

I'm opposed to a delay, but I think our "leaders" are going to delay it because of perception.

Quote :
The Senate acted responsibly to give the Obama administration time to attempt to bring order to a mismanaged process
Pure political nonsense. There is nothing to suggest this has been "mismanaged" at all. The "problem" is that 4-8 million people ignored the rampant PSAs on TV, radio, billboards, and magazines for the past 18 months.

So why do we think giving stupid people another few months is going to help? You can't have watched TV for the past 18 months and not known this was going to happen on Feb 17th. And please, where in the Constitution does it say you are guaranteed to have TV? This is crap. This is going to cost millions of dollars with no benefit because the same stupid people won't be ready in June. And for the love of God, can we hide your moronic political bias? This is supposed to be a tech site.

Note to people who don't realize that 'analog' antennas are exactly the same as 'digital' antennas: the tuned frequency of the antenna is what matters, not what it's receiving. Those metal parts couldn't care less what the content is.

I'm sorry, but wasn't the first time to swtich back 6 years ago and Congress changed it to Feb 09 to give people enough time? I am truely amazed.

The people that are going to understand already do. The ones that don't aren't going to in 4 months either. I bet if their TV stops working they'll be determined to figure out why. All a delay is going to do is cost people more money.
By the way you don't have to put up a new antenna. That comment about climbing a tower in the winter is nonsense. All that is needed is a different tuner or a TV with one in it.
And I don't think that even if there TV did stop working that an elderly or poor person is going to miss out on any important service messages. Last I checked AM/FM radio is still going to be working.

I can't believe this bs! 1st off, I am completely opposed to every aspect of this entire program; but, WTF did these cards even have expiration dates? Shouldn't the expiration dates have been the same for all cards (namely Feb 17 ,2009)?

PS: Whatever happened to radio, newspapers, mail, telephone, and just plain talking to other people? How is tv anymore important than those other mediums? This is soooooo retarded and I can't take it anymore!

Ok, so does the people out in the sticks not have radio? And someone that poor should be looking for a job, not WATCHING TV!

Lets see, corporations that earn revenues from advertisements colludes with government to get consumers to spend money for the privledge of watching same.

Didn't the change over only require that all analog broadcasts end on Feb 17th? To me this means that broadcasters could have turned off their analog at any time before that date.

If I was a broadcaster that invested millions on dollars on new equipment for a Feb 17th change over, I would stick with the plan of changing over on the 17th. I would also give a swift kick to the hind quarters of those people who waited to the last minute or let their rebate coupons expire.

Instead of the failed rebate program the government should have just subsidized the price at some other level in the chain; manufacturer, distribution, or retail and then the boxes would have been $10 to $20 at the store and the this problem of expired rebates and waiting lists would not have existed.

Just my two cents...

It is a little mismanaged. Several of the vouchers are not going out due to lack of funds because someone did not plan ahead or congress failed to release enough funds to handle the demand.

Buying a digital television isn't exactly on my list of priorities.
My apartment building will not allow tenants to install cable. I heard a rumor that we are allowed to have satellite in our building but I am not sure about that and I will not be able to set it up in time.

So yeah I would be seeing snow on my set come February 17 in downtown los angeles.

WTF are you talking about?
(1) Who says anything about having to buy a digital tv? This is about people receiving "on-air" tv broadcasts with non-digital tv's which will need these converter boxes that are readily available to ANYONE. (BTW, I was in BestBuy last night and they had an entire pallet of them in the middle of the floor when you walked in.)
(2)Who says anything about installing cable or satellite dish or anything of the like? Again, this is about on-air analog broadcasts! All you have to do is go out and buy the BOX! How more simple can it get?!?!?!?!

Wow all this time has gone by, and their are people still with analog crap tvs on rabbit ears and its 2009. WTH? Hey people there is something called HDTV and their not that expensive. Your local Walmart even has them for under $500 now. Excluding the elderly, step up to the plate folks get with the 21st century please because news like this that makes headlines just shows how many dummies and ignorant peole there truly are out there.

"Once the analog towers shut down, these viewers will be unable to receive emergency broadcasts and official public announcements."


Kind of like the public announcements that have been going on for months that they have been ignoring?

we are so poor these days and now we must hemorrhage more money for procrastinators and i suppose borrow more money from china to pay for this delay? wow... what a mouth full.

Tom's Hardware needs to start putting the articles at the bottom and the comments on top. Not only are the comments more accurate and accountable, they are also entertaining!

the only fault for this delay is the lazy people who waited till the last minute to request there coupons for the digital antenna. last i heard there is a big waiting list for getting the coupons

+1 to that brother!

You don't need the coupon to get a converter box; the coupon just makes them free. If you really cared you could just buy one yourself.

Who says that you need a TV to get emergency broadcasts? The only time they ever issue them around here is when most people are without power. I heard they now have something called radio or something like that, that will let people get news and entertainment and emergency broadcasts, just without pictures. Who knows, it might catch on.

I am totally against the delay simply because this been talked about for YEARS!! Just for the past 18 months or so there have been talks on the radio, tv and ads to get people ready for the switch-over.

What they do? People whined saying they couldn't afford to a digital converter box. I'm like what? $60 for a box? If they cared enough about their TV they could have saved $10 a month for 6 months and it would have been fine. Nope, they had to complain about it.

This whole delay thing is going to cost more money for the taxpayers.

All I know Is that I dont even watch TV Because of the Crappy Show(House and a few others are good...And sports) I never watch the news..just the weather. And ALMOST every TV made now has a Digital-Tuner in it. I cant even stand to look at the picture on the Wii because its honked up with a Crappy RCA Analog plug and not Digital. So I say Feb. 17 Cut the Analog broadcasts and just let the people deal with it Or go to a friends house to Watch the Crappy Shows Like American Idol and All the Reality TV(Ha Realtiy my butt). Really the Tax money should be helping us not making the Image that the world sees us as(Which could be Lazy and Fat people) worst.

I am curious regarding the main question raised by the article. Is there currently any editorial review policy regarding articles posted on Tom's?

The delays are incredible! All I know is that I've seen that digital transition warning enough on t.v. that I have dreams about it. No excuse for not being ready for the switch.