This bill encompasses more than just pushing the date back.  Senators Jay Rockefeller and Kay Bailey Hutchison co-sponsored this bill, and in order to see it pass they added in such compromises as speeding up the DTV-to-analogue converter box distribution process and keeping the transition revenue-neutral.

The passage of bill S.328 means that many Americans will not notice any TV program outages in the near future.  Many Senators were concerned about their constituents experiencing blackouts after the change to DTV, because many Americans currently receive their TV broadcast over the airwaves.

The next step in this process is the passage of the House bill.  This is virtually identical to the Senate bill, but there are fears that it will be passed back and forth between the two branches and prolong the outcome of a final decision.  Three weeks ago, the Obama administration asked the Congress to push the date back, because many Americans were not receiving the coupons and boxes necessary to equip their home with DTV-ready technology.