Congressed passed a bill on January 28th to delay the transition from analog to digital television until June 12; however, the FCC said that those stations that wish to make the transition on February 17, the original date for the DTV switch, will have an option to do so.

All stations planning to make the transition on February 17 will have to file a formal request with the FCC by February 9 and air 120 public service announcements informing their viewers of the analog shut-off date. Although the FCC insists that the guidelines to shut off analog programming before the new date will be flexible, the commission makes a point of saying that not all stations that file a request will be approved for the switch.