In an effort to prevent local televisions from going dark on February 18^th, Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27) and his colleagues in the House of Representatives voted to approve S. 352, a bill that will delay the digital television conversion allowing for additional time to get coupons to the 17,613 households in Western New York currently on a waiting list.

“My office has received dozens of calls from local residents who are experiencing difficulty with the coupon program,” said Congressman Higgins.  “By extending the deadline we provide relief to frustrated consumers working to prepare their households for the transition.”

The DTV Delay Act amends the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 to delay the transition of television broadcasting from analog to digital by 115 days from the previous scheduled transition date of February 17 to a new date of June 12, 2009.  The Nielsen Company estimates that 6.5 million households would lose all TV reception if the February deadline remains in place.

Residents currently receiving their television signal through satellite or cable services will not be impacted by the conversion.  However, consumers who rely on antennas to receive over-the-air broadcast signals on TV sets having only analog tuners will need to obtain separate digital-to-analog converter boxes to watch TV. The Commerce Department estimates that more than 2 million households are currently on a waiting list to receive almost 3.7 million coupons to help them buy digital TV converter boxes.

In addition to the delay, this legislation allows for consumers who never redeemed coupons that have expired to apply for replacement coupons.  Residents still in need of a coupon can apply online at https://www.dtv2009.gov/, call the toll-free 24-hour automated system at 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009), mail a coupon application to: PO Box 2000, Portland, OR 97208-2000, or fax a coupon application to 1-877-DTV-4ME2 (1-877-388-4632).

The DTV Delay Act was supported by public safety organizations, civil rights and consumer groups, the National Association of Broadcasters and wireless providers.  The bill preserves broadcasters’ ability to transition before the new transition date, if such a move doesn’t interfere with another broadcast signal.

The legislation was approved unanimously by the Senate on January 29, 2009.  With approval by the House and Senate now complete, S.352 will now move to the President Obama’s desk for his signature.

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