I think it's a great idea. damn converter box companies jack up the prices of boxes to more than 40 bucks because of the government coupons. delay will allow people to forgo buying those boxes and just upgrade their tvs. and also allows those damn companies to realize now these aren't anymore coupons.. those prices will go down to normal 20 bucks each.

Pushing the date back is idiotic. People will put off going digital until the last possible minute. Giving them MORE time to do it is just enabling them to put it off even further. If you want these people to convert, you need to implement the damned standard NOW rather than later. FORCING them to get off their asses and convert rather than giving them the ability to keep procrastinating on it.

and his staff are even WORSE than bush. all the sheeple will understand this within the next 4 years. How can you, knowing how car companies are struggling, impose even more strict regulations for auto makers? And now this? It's like he wants the USA to fail...

Agreed. I was ranting about this all morning. Apparently it costs a small network affiliate $20k in electricity alone just to broadcast the analog signal. We're talking about the Congress <cough>Obama administration</cough> deciding at the 11th hour that screwing the television industry to the tune of many, many millions of dollars - maybe even billions - is OK because "6.5 million" American households were too lazy to go get their converter box voucher sometime in the last THREE YEARS. Didn't the Fed hand out $600 to every single one of you a year ago? Maybe you could have set aside $30 of that to pick up a converter box - since you were too lazy to get the voucher in time - instead of costing your local affiliate $100k or so.

I understand that networks are allowed to broadcast because they put up with this sort of crap from the government - that and the whole news/emergency broadcast thing, but this is just ridiculous.

The Fed needs to worry about reducing spending - not wasting other people's money so they have more time to subsidize converter boxes for people who can't be bothered to go pick them up.

I agree, I myself lean a bit towards republican. So far, almost none of Obama's plan sounds good because all they really are, are just do the opposite of Bush or mostly just benefit the US in the short term. Long term doesn't look too good. I mean, all his plan and changes are going to put us almost another trillion in debt according to Times, I think it was time, but I've read several articles on this. But I'll wait to see what he'll do, so far I have a negative opinion on him especially how he kept whining about the BB.

As for the delay, this is a hinder to progress. It's a burden to society, it's a burden to tax payer. In the end, it solves nothing.

I know people will disagree but this is my point of view. Everything has 2 sides, I personally just don't agree with what Obama stands for and I'm poor. Almost all my friends and family are democrat or pro-Obama, so I've heard it all about how he's going to make the world a better place but I just can't see it, I foresee the opposite.

This was part of my argument. Older people will hold onto the analog standard as long as possible before converting. Only mandating the digital standard will MAKE them upgrade. Force is the only thing that many people understand. Like making people move from VHS to DVD, making it mandatory is they only way to force people along. DVD is now the pre-recorded standard and DVD players are cheap. I respect that some people don't want to make the transition, but they'll never adopt it as long as they can put it off.