Television sets without set top boxes (STBs) in hundreds of households across Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata went blank as the deadline for switch over to cable TV digitisation ended last midnight.

People watching various programmes faced blackout when the clock struck zero hour. However, in some areas of Kolkata, the television sets without STBs were found to be working. Information and Broadcasting Ministry's data showed that the cable TV digitization including Direct to Home, DTH in four metros, has touched an overall 94 per cent .

TV viewers in Chennai, who have not made the change, however, got some relief with the Madras High Court granting extension of the deadline till November 5 for the process of digitisation of television signals.