a glaring misunderstanding by majority of media sources

i got the news story today in several of my usual news feeds that the senate has approved the DTV transition delay this time around so broadcasters can broadcast until june 12th (instead of feb 17th). however, every single news story i read on this topic (i read 7, since they were all neglecting a fact i had known) is completely ignoring what i think is the biggest part of this bill, that broadcasters MIGHT be broadcasting until june, but they do not have to. the bill allows for broadcasters to turn off analog broadcasts on feb 17th, like planned, if that is more convenient for them, yet 8 out of the nine articles i read come close to ignoring this fact.

take House Approves DTV Delay Until June (PCWORLD), which writes on about the delaying being "in an effort to prevent millions of residents from losing their TV signals," and "Many U.S. residents aren't ready for the transition, Democrats argued" only to mention at the very end, almost as a footnote, that "The bill also allows broadcasters to switch to digital broadcasts before June 12."

CNET News does the same thing with a note tagged on the end stating, "The bill allows television stations to switch from analog to digital signals before the June 12 deadline if they are ready to do so." and with feb 17th only 13 days away, what broadcatser was not prepared? every congressma who spoke about this bill talked about how consumers were not ready, but it was only consumers (and the converter box coupon fund) who were ill prepared.

eWeek and Reuters news service fail to mention this stipulation at all.

the worst offender of this oversight, however, is the san francisco chronicle, which opens with, "Television viewers who rely on sets with antennas to pick up their broadcast signals have about four extra months to get ready for the nation's switch to digital TV." furhter down the same page, they say, "The delay does not mean every station will continue to broadcast in analog. Broadcasters will be permitted to shut off their analog transmission before June 12. That creates a potential uneven transition for analog viewers, who might still lose some channels, depending on what local stations decide to do." this appears to perfectly contradict their opening statement.

i got nothing on PCMAG. they have a solid article :)

UPDATE: even the whitehouse blog got this wrong! section 4a of the bill congress passed explains what will happen but everyone seems to be ignoring this fact...