This Sunday, it will be exactly one year until TV broadcasts go all-digital, and the action is starting to pick up. Uncle Sam, electronics manufacturers and retailers, and consumers are gearing up for the day analog TV broadcasts cease—Feb. 17, 2009. Here are the latest developments:
Coupons going fast; don't miss out. On Tuesday, Feb. 19, the government will mail the first batch of coupons to consumers who requested help paying for a digital converter box. These boxes will enable analog TVs to accept digital signals pulled in by an antenna. Each household can request one or two $40 coupons. The coupons, which look like plastic gift cards (see the sample image on the right), expire 90 days after they're issued.
[April 7, 2008 UPDATE: Concerned about the expiration date on your converter coupons? Check out our latest post, DTV converter coupons: It's now or never, which also features a link to "share your story" with HearUsNow.org, the consumer advocacy arm of Consumers Union, our parent company. —Ed.]
As of Feb. 14, the government had received applications for nearly 5 million coupons—almost one-fourth of the 22,250,000 coupons available to any household. When those are gone, another 11,250,000 million will be offered, but only to households that depend solely on an antenna for TV signals. If you subscribe to cable or satellite service for some TVs but have other sets that use an antenna, apply before the unrestricted coupons are gone. Visit www.dtv2009.gov to apply online or to get a form that can be mailed or faxed (you'll need Adobe Acrobat software), or call 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009).
Converters arriving in stores. The first digital converter boxes are arriving in stores now. Independent retailers and major chains including Best Buy, Circuit City, Kmart, RadioShack, Sam's Club, Sears, Target, and Wal-Mart will sell the boxes, which cost about $40 to $70, and have agreed to accept coupons.
Wal-Mart has already started to sell the Magnavox TB100MW9 for $50. (Click on the image at left for a closer look.) Best Buy and Circuit City have pledged to have converters in all stores by this Sunday, Feb. 17, and some of their locations already have them. (We purchased one and will post a review of the Magnavox digital TV converter box soon.)
Most of these retailers won't let you purchase a converter online, though NTIA said it will list online retailers on www.dtv2009.gov shortly. You can also plug in your address and find a local converter box retailer at: https://www.dtv2009.gov/VendorSearch.aspx.
You can apply a coupon only toward converter boxes that have been approved by the government. At press time, 37 models were approved. You'll find the list of approved converter box models on the NTIA web site: https://www.ntiadtv.gov/cecb_list.cfm.
What to expect when you shop. Be prepared for some confusion when you go shopping. In one store, a clerk advised our reporter not to worry about the cutoff, as it was a year away—bad advice for those who want to order a coupon before they're gone and use it before it expires. When we phoned another store, a clerk told us converter boxes were sold out. She wasn't sure when more units would be arriving and wasn't aware of the coupon program. Only in one instance did we receive correct information from a salesperson. So bone up on the DTV transition information you need to know before you head out to shop.
Check back here in coming days for ongoing coverage, including advice on antennas and reviews of converter boxes, and visit our DTV Transition hub for more information.
—Nick Mandle
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