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As expected, the House of Representatives passed the bill to postpone the end of analog television. The Democrats easily got the majority needed to pass the bill, which saw legislators voting on strict party lines. Once President Obama, who is expected to approve the bill, signs off, the end of analog television will officially be June 12, 2009.
Ironically, the Pew Research center recently found that 97% of people questioned were aware of the transition from digital to analog television. The survey also found that 81% of respondents had “heard a lot” about the transition.
Nielsen, which originally stated that an average of 95.4 viewers watched the Super Bowl, is now reporting that 97.5 million Americans tuned in to the game. The new number would make the contest between the Steelers and the Cardinals the most watched Super Bowl in history and the second most watched program in the history of television.
After posting a loss of $16 billion dollars, Time Warner was notified by Google that they would either have to spin off AOL or sell Google back its 5% share at market value. Google invested $1 billion in AOL during a bidding war with Microsoft over search. That same deal valued AOL at $20 billion, a supremely inflated price compared to the $5.4 billion Google believes AOL is currently worth.
Time Warner Cable announced that they will be expanding their metered broadband tests. A spokesman noted that the trials will soon begin in four new markets and will feature offers of 5GB, 20GB and 40GB of usage a month. The company will chargw users who go over set limits $1/GB.