Digital television broadcasting is looming, with the deadline of June 12 creeping closer.

Changing how television stations transmit from analog signal to digital was supposed to have happened in February.

However, shortly after President Obama's swearing in, Obama and Congress delayed the switch because they feared too many people were unprepared for it.

For customers without cable service, preparing means either getting a new digital television or getting a converter box that will unscramble the digital signal for analog televisions.

Congress even has offered $40 coupons to help television owners pay for the box.

According to a news release from the Federal Communications Commission in Washington, D.C., almost 439,000 coupons for converter boxes have been requested and distributed in the Pittsburgh region. But only about 203,500 of those were redeemed by May 6.

Dave Witmer, vice president of cable marketing for Armstrong, the main cable TV provider in Butler County, has said that viewers who subscribe to cable television will have no problem receiving digital broadcasts, and they do not need a converter box.

In March, some television stations went ahead with the switch while others decided to wait or to broadcast in both analog and digital signals until June 12.

Congress decided the digital switch was needed to clear airwaves for better first-responder communication channels.