Feb 10, 2009 4:00 pm US/Eastern
3 On Your Side: DTV Delay -- Don't Wait!
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
As we told you last week, the switch to digital television that was supposed to occur February 17 has been delayed. A big reason is many people are not prepared and still have questions. 3 On Your Side's Jim Donovan has more on what this important transition means to you.
The DTV transition for the nation has been put on pause and the new date is June 12. There are more than 6 million people in the country who are not ready. Just because we get an extra four months before we go digital, doesn't mean you should drag your feet and put off any changes you may need to make.
If you procrastinated up until now to prepare for the digital television transition, let this be your warning. Don't wait anymore. June 12 will be here before you know it.
If you get your television signal over-the-air, that is you watch TV on an older set using a set-top or rooftop antenna, one of your options is a digital converter box.
"The converter box is a device that has the digital tuner inside of it and what it does is take that digital signal off air and converts it to an analog picture so you can see it on your older TV," said Dave Dombrowski with the Philadelphia office of the Federal Communications Commission.
Also, make sure you apply for those $40 coupons to use towards the purchase of a box. Even though millions of consumers are on a waiting list for the coupons, sign up anyway.
Now that the date has been pushed back, more money may be allocated for the program in President Obama's stimulus package.
"This delay is absolutely necessary and will be for one time only," said Democratic Representative Rick Boucher from Virginia. "It will assure, in conjunction with the $650 million to be provided in the stimulus legislation that the problems that confront this program can successfully be addressed," Boucher added.
So don't wait any longer to make any necessary changes to prepare for the switch to digital.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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