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Baldwin lauds delay in digital TV transition
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WASHINGTON - Congress is giving consumers four more months to prepare for the upcoming transition from analog to digital television broadcasting.

The House on Wednesday voted 264-158 to postpone the shutdown of analog TV signals to June 12, to address growing concerns that too many Americans won't be ready in time for the Feb. 17 deadline that Congress had set three years ago. The Senate passed the measure unanimously last week and the bill now heads to President Barack Obama for his signature.

Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, was among those voting for the delay Wednesday.

"This legislation responds directly to the needs of many Wisconsinites who, through no fault of their own in many cases, would have lost their TV signal completely on February 18," Baldwin said in a news release. "A delay in making the switch to digital is appropriate and necessary."

The Nielsen Co. estimates that more than 6.5 million U.S. households that rely on analog TV sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals still are not ready. People who subscribe to cable or satellite TV or have a newer TV with a digital tuner will not be affected.

Baldwin said that there are more than 4,500 households in south central Wisconsin that are on the waiting list for coupons to purchase a converter box that converts an analog TV to digital reception.

Some TV stations in the Madison market are going ahead with digital-only broadcasting on Feb. 17. A joint statement by WKOW-TV and WISC-TV says their research indicates less than 1 percent of households in their market are not yet prepared for the conversion from analog to digital.