From The Press of Atlantic City — WMGM-TV 40 will cease analog broadcasts today, despite an extension granted by the federal government.

About 35 percent of more than 1,760 full-power television stations nationwide will switch today to exclusively digital broadcasts, according to the Federal Communications Commission Web site.

The change is happening because all-digital broadcasting will save TV stations money, provide a better viewing experience, and free up analog frequencies for use by first-responder agencies and for auction to wireless communications companies, according to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

That auction will fund a $1.5 billion federal program set up to disseminate government coupons to slash in half or completely cover the cost of an analog-to-digital converter box, according to the administration.

More than four million people are on a waiting list for the coupons, prompting a deadline extension to June 12.

Without a converter, cable, satellite or a digital TV set, viewers will be unable to get most TV programming after today or June 12, depending on the station’s choice, according to the Leadership Conference for Civil Rights, a nonprofit group that ran its own information campaign about the transition.

A converter costs less than a new television, but it proved ineffective for 69-year-old Elizabeth Christian.

Christian lives with her daughter in the Mizpah section of Mullica Township. She said she typically watches several hours of TV every day, including daily newscasts and other programs broadcast over NBC 40.

“I do that, read my Bible. Whatever I decide to do that day, I just sit, with the way my legs bother me. … That’s why I’m in this wheelchair,” said Christian, who suffers from bursitis and fibromyalgia.

Christian bought a digital converter at the beginning of the month but already has returned it because it did not work properly, she said. She was glad to hear about the deadline extension because it will give her more time to find a working converter or buy a new television compatible with digital broadcasts, she said.

NBC 40′s Web site did not reference the change Monday afternoon, but its 6 p.m. newscast featured a story on the issue.

Station management and public relations personnel for NBC-Universal and the FCC did not respond Monday to calls and e-mails for comment.

NBC 40 is one of three TV stations in the 21-station Philadelphia market area expected to adhere to the deadline set three years ago by the FCC.

It’s not clear whether the station is among about 100 the commission says have claimed financial hardship as they stop $10,000-per-year analog broadcasts.

The federal government has been working toward all-digital television broadcasts for more than a decade, but 2005 marked the official start of a public information campaign targeting senior citizens and others living on fixed or limited incomes.

None of the clients at Caring Inc., an adult day-care facility in Pleasantville and Atlantic City, had asked for help with the change, according to administrator Madelin Villanueva.

Unlike Christian, a Caring client who found out about the impending end of analog broadcasts from television commercials, most clients were confused when Villanueva broached the subject. Some told her they already switched to digital television, but she suspects others might not know whether their television will work after the switch, she said.

“Some of them have their old (analog) sets, because as long as they keep working, they use them. Most of them are on a fixed income, so it’s kind of difficult for them to splurge, and a lot of times, when it comes to technology, they’re really lost,” Villanueva said.

People who are unsure whether the transition will affect them should check with their provider.

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