• Chicago Tribune, Wednesday, March 7, 2007 11:15 AM

Two-thirds of American households still have analog television sets that are scheduled to become extinct in about two years. All full-powered TV signals are mandated by Congress to be entirely digital by Feb 17, 2009. Of course, for those that have cable or satellite service, their converter box will change the digital signals to analog, so they can still be viewed.

But for the 15% of households that rely on over-the-air broadcast signals, their sets will go dark, unless they have bought a new digital set or a digital-to-analog converter box. The date was picked because it will be after the Super Bowl, thus avoiding the rage of football fans who can't see the game.

Both Congress and the Federal Communications Commission have been moving toward a digital deadline for a decade to free up airwaves for government use and private wireless communication. "But Congress has continually moved the finish line as broadcasters complained that they could not convert their signals to digital in time," journalism professor Steven Helle notes. "There is still much concern among public broadcasting stations as to how they will finance the transition."

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