Digital broadcasting is not ready to go live – just yet.

Last week, Congress postponed the transition from analog to digital television broadcasting.

The date was moved from Feb. 17 to June 12 to allow time for additional resources to develop and consumer outreach to improve, according to a statement released on Feb. 5 by Michael Copps, acting chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

“I believe we can make a real difference,” Copps said.

Copps said another point of concern is improving the converter box coupon program.

The program, instituted last year by the U.S. government to increase the availability of digital television to consumers, has put more than two million U.S. households on a waiting list, Copps added.

Local television stations have been experiencing the effects of this delay.

“The people in Congress felt there was still a substantial number of people who were not ready to receive a digital signal,” said Carl Caldwell, station manager at WILL-TV.

Most stations in the area are running both analog and digital signals, said Russ Hamilton, vice president and general manager at WCIA, a CBS affiliate. WCIA is not going to shut off analog power until the June 12 transition date, he added.

“We’ve been prepared for the switch for some time,” Hamilton said.

WCFN, one of WCIA’s channels, will not be able to go digital until other local stations shut off their analog signals, Hamilton said.

“The digital signal will interfere with other TV stations,” Hamilton said.

Interfering signals are not the only problem broadcasters have to cope with. They also deal with the costs of running both signals.

Despite costing the station more than $1 million to prepare for the switch, the cost of keeping WCIA running on both analog and digital signals is not overwhelming, Hamilton said.

The fate of WILL-TV is not as established.

“We will be broadcasting analog until the end of March,” Caldwell said. “At that time, we will decide to continue or disconnect.”

Caldwell said WILL-TV is holding fundraisers throughout February and March to raise the money to continue broadcasting the station.

“The biggest cost relates to utility charges,” Caldwell said. “The digital transition has cost us a lot of money.”

Caldwell said the total cost of digital broadcasting for WILL-TV will be in the range of $3 million to $5 million.

“It’s Congressional mandate, so we have no choice,” Caldwell said.

Meanwhile, the number of individuals who are not yet prepared for the actual transition may be as high as 10 percent, Caldwell said.

“For people receiving a signal with an antenna, if you do not get the analog signal well, you may not get the digital signal at all,” Hamilton said.

Caldwell said that once the transition has been made, the benefits will outweigh the current problems.

“I think people will be very happy with their TV,” Caldwell said. “I think digital TV is a great thing.”