The U.S. Senate voted Monday to delay the switchover from analog to digital television broadcasting. The original date was set for February 17, 2009, just 22 days from now; under the bill passed in the Senate, that deadline would postponed until June 12. The House still needs to vote, but it is expected to pass similar legislation extending the transition.

The reprieve for analog is a response to concerns that an estimated 6.5 million U.S. households continue to rely on antennas and will go dark when the switchover to digital occurs. A year ago, the Consumer Electronics Association estimated that 13.5 million households would require a converter box.

At the heart of the transition's delay are Issues with the deployment of funds from the U.S. Commerce Department's coupon program, which offers households up to two $40 coupons to defray the cost of a digital TV converter box. The ; and 19 million coupons have been redeemed--a redemption rate of around 50 percent.

By the end of 2008, though, the funds allocated for the coupon program had dried up: Consumers who tried to request a coupon were put on a waiting list.

"There was a set amount of money-$1.3 billion-for coupons," explains John Taylor, the aforementioned board member of the DTV Transition coalition, and vice president of communications at LG Electronics. But the coupons are good for a limited time only. "As the coupons expire, the money goes back into the treasury." The money then has to be reallocated to back new coupons--a process that has taken longer than expected.