The Obamas tensely watching Nick At Nite on Tuesday, November 4th, 2008
June 12th it is, officially, due to the Prez signing this legislation. Of course, because this is a giant mess, almost 40% of local TV stations plan to go digital next Tuesday the 17th, on the original deadline. Here's part of President Obama's written statement:
Millions of Americans, including those in our most vulnerable communities, would have been left in the dark if the conversion had gone on as planned, and this solution is an important step forward as we work to get the nation ready for digital TV.
Yes, except signing this legislation doesn't really solve the whole problem, as the LA Times Technology section points out:
Not everyone will get the benefit of that extra time. Though the major TV stations in Los Angeles won't turn off their analog signals until the new deadline, the law allows stations to apply to go ahead on the original date -- at the end of the day next Tuesday -- or anytime between now and June 12.
Nearly 500 stations have applied to pull their analog plug on Tuesday, although the FCC may block some early transitions. The most likely places the FCC will step in are markets where most stations want to make the switch early and many residents are unprepared.
In fact, the FCC just rejected 25% of TV stations' early DTV-switch applications. Oy.