Congress Finally Approves Analog Television Broadcast End

Mark this date on your calendar: February 17th, 2009. After years of changing dates and conflicting House and Senate Bills, this is the date finally approved by Congress, and signed by President Bush, when analog television transmissions will end. The final bill is a compromise between two earlier Senate and House bills.

Those consumers that still own analog televisions and receive their programs primarily over-the-air after the cut-off date, will need to purchase digital-to-analog converter boxes to continue their broadcast television viewing. There are provisions in the approved bill to subsidize the cost of converter boxes for consumers.

For more on this important issue, check out the perspective from Matt Torres, About.com Guide for TV/Video as well as a report from HDTV Magazine.