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For TV viewers who couldn't understand the switch from analog to digital broadcasting, stay tuned: The situation just got more confusing.

Initially, the government had set Tuesday as the long-awaited date when the nation would abandon over-the-air TV transmission in favor of digital signals.

The change would mean a clearer picture, better audio and more channels.

But last week, Congress approved a bill to delay the change until June 12, a measure President Barack Obama signed Wednesday.

Now comes word that about 40 percent of the nation's 1,800 stations - including two in the Triad - plan to convert to digital Tuesday anyway.

Across North Carolina, 13 of the 50 stations will switch next week or have already, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

In the Triad, WXLV (ABC, channel 45) and WMYV (MyNetwork TV, channel 48), both in Winston-Salem, will switch early. Both are owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Efforts Wednesday to reach Ron Inman, general manager of both stations, were unsuccessful.

A statement on the stations' Web sites said the switch would be made "to avoid additional confusion due to the date change ...."

Officials at other Triad stations said they planned to delay the change to make sure viewers with analog televisions - those that depended on an outdoor antenna or rabbit ears - have taken the steps necessary to get digital reception.

"We made the decision based on the fact that people are still calling us asking for help," said Hank Price, president and general manager at WXII (NBC, Channel 12), in Winston-Salem. "We want to make sure the consumer is ready. If that means staying on the air a little longer, then we will do that."

Those who supported the delay worried that 20 million households hadn't prepared for the conversion because of a shortage of government coupons designed to defray the cost of converter boxes, which switch analog signals to digital.

"Where the rubber met the road is when the coupon funding ran out," said Karen Adams, president and general manager of WGHP (Fox, channel 8) in High Point. "We are ready, but folks still need converter boxes .... It is important for us to stay on (the air) until folks get this figured out. I don't mean viewers; I mean government entities."

Inman told the Winston-Salem Journal that his stations' early switch will serve as a good test for what might happen across the market in June.

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don.patterson @news-record.com