House Votes Against Delaying Digital TV Transition

The House voted Wednesday against a plan to delay a nationwide transition to digital television by four months to June 12.

House Republicans succeeded in scuttling a bill to delay the transition, which is scheduled for Feb. 17, less than two days after the Senate unanimously passed the plan.

The defeat is a setback for the Obama administration and Democrats on Capitol Hill, who fear too many Americans are not ready for the switchover.

The Nielsen Co. estimates more than 6.5 million U.S. households that rely on analog television sets to pick up over-the-air broadcast signals could see their TV sets go dark next month if the transition is not postponed.

A majority of the House voted to push back the implementation Wednesday but a special set of rules covering the bill required a two-thirds vote to pass.

The vote was 258-168.

With 426 lawmakers voting, the House needed 282 affirmative votes to postpone the transition to digital TV.

Earlier this week, the Senate voted unanimously to delay the transition until June 12.

TV broadcasters have been preparing to ditch their longtime, analog signals in favor of digital transmissions. Once that occurs, older televisions must be retrofitted with a digital converter box to receive signals.

FOX News' Chad Pergram and The Associated Press contributed to this report.