On Feb.17,2009,television sets based on technology used for the past 60 years will cease to work.As one of its first acts this year,Congress will decree that broadcasters must end analog transmissions on that date and switch to the digital technology they have been phasing in for several years.While it sounds dramatic,most Americans won't notice the change.Television's digital transition has been the source of angst and debate in government and in the entertainment and consumer-electronics industries for more than a decade.In 1996,Congress gave broadcasters spectrum to begin digital broadcasts on the condition that their original frequencies would revert to the government at the end of this year.No one really took that date seriously,but the new deadline,part of a massive budget bill awaiting final passage when lawmakers return from break,looks firm.
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