Government runs out of money...for your digital TV converter
Filed under: Extracurriculars, Technology
The government had intended to help people get ready for the federally mandated transition to digital TV broadcasts. It made your local TV stations nag you about it. And for a while, it has been supplying $40 coupons to defray the cost of the converter box necessary to translate the new signals, which begin on Feb. 17.
Well, guess what? The government project is out of money. Which means it's out of coupons a month before the deadline. Now all the people who had been getting over-the-air, analog signals but who hadn't yet made plans to get their boxes will be forced onto a waiting list until the moment funds are cleared again -- or they'll be forced to go out-of-pocket by as much as $80 to get their own box.
Those of us who have cable TV or satellite dishes (that's 93% of us) are already covered, but there are lots of Americans who aren't. There's no telling how many rural residents, senior citizens, and people without means will find themselves unplugged from their TVs until the budget backlog is cleared up and they can get wired again. People who get analog signals from their apartment buildings may also be out of luck for a little while.
Although the coupons have been available for a year now, unsurprisingly, the rush to obtain them has been biggest for the past six weeks as broadcast stations have gone into overdrive to educate viewers about the upcoming format change. According to the Washington Post, 7.2 million coupons were requested in December, far exceeding the 4 million that were expected.
Congress had originally allocated $1.34 billion to help citizens stay connected though their TVs. Some politicians are working to free up some money to put some more coupons in play, and unredeemed coupons may also go back into circulation to ease some of the pressure.
Procrastination has its penalties. Even when viewers are cleared to receive their coupons, it's going to take six weeks to receive one. Which means that this year might end up being a boon for at least one industry: radio.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
1-06-2009 @ 5:08PM
j said...
do you really think that cable will make you safe-
it's all going digital
look for increase in cable fees
mandatory cable boxes on all tvs which you will rent or buy.
As I understand it cable has a deadline to switch too. So as to keep everything compatible. It just comes a little later. (But cable is moving faster they also want to use less band width by going digital)
Best idea watch your shows on your computer over the internet. TIme warner cable was telling it's viewers to do that for Spongebob and the Daily show when they were fueding with Viacom and pulling Viacoms channels.
So take their advise- drop your cable- instead of HD buy a big moniter for your PC and watch away,
On your schedule and with less comercials.
Want a smaller set- try Sprint TV on your phone.
When you get an everything data package it comes along.
Disney Channel, Nick, Fox, NBC, ABC, USA, CBS and much more all there in the palm of my hand (or my kids when I want to quiet them down).
Reply
1-06-2009 @ 8:06PM
Whiplash said...
Dumbest program on the planet. The government offers $40 vouchers and what do we get?
A $10 device being sold for $50.
Reply
3-28-2009 @ 12:43PM
William Renshaw said...
Readers:
There are things still on the market that have not changed you can still listen to Anlog radio --worse you
still Black and white television ---I was told that television
was suppose to be color sometime din the past
we do not enough
Bill
Reply
3-06-2009 @ 2:48AM
Jack said...
Yes, this ties in with online traffic statistics. Even though the original deadline was in Feb, most users ended up rushing for coupons to buy their converter boxes in the first week of the year and after that traffic to these sites have decreased.(http://weblogs.hitwise.com/heather-dougherty/2009/02/analog_to_digital_switch_1.html)
Aside of the delay in actually receiving your coupon there's also the very inconvenient fact of them expiring within 90 days, so unless you act on it soon, you'll just be holding an expired coupon in your hand. Wonder whom all this really serves? There's no funding for coupons and yet analog tv's (a multi-billion dollar industry) are still being sold.....
Jack Schuman
http://www.zenithdtt901.com
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