The Commerce Department finally contemplates some long overdue changes to qualify nursing home residents and post office box users for its digital television converter box coupon program, but the agency continues to ignore expiration date mess.

Earlier this week the two top government officials in charge of the upcoming transition to digital television trundled up to Capitol Hill to report on how it’s going. Several lawmakers told the pair they are extremely worried millions of consumers who depend on free, over-the-air television will be left in the dark when full power broadcasters are required to switch to all digital signals in February 2009. “I've just got my fingers crossed,” said Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye. We have our fingers crossed too, but we would feel a lot better if the lawmakers and government bureaucrats in charge of this landmark transition – arguably the biggest change in broadcasting since the advent of color television – were doing a whole lot more than they have so far to make sure this massive conversion comes off as problem free as possible.