by KYW's Pat Loeb
President-elect Barack Obama and various consumer groups across the country are trying to delay the nationwide switch to a digital TV signal on February 17th.
John Podesta is a member of Obama's administration, and he sent letter to congress asking for the delay just one day after the Consumer's Union called for a postponement in the switch to digital.
The coupons to subsidize the purchase of converter boxes had run out and consumers union complained that unfairly burdened hundreds of thousands of analog TV owners.
The government announced on Monday that those folks would be put on a waiting list, but Philadelphia consumer advocate Lance Haver says he suspects the coupons actually ran out quite a while ago:
"We've had complaints for the last month from people who'd requested them and had not gotten them."
Haver says he hopes Congress will agree to the request. However, the consumer electronics association opposes the move, as does the wireless association.
They say congress should, instead, allocate more money for converter boxes.
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