Coupon program begins to help low-tech TV owners convert to digital broadcasting(weird spam image)

AP ^ | 01/01/08 | John Dunbar

[Pikamax]

Dec 31 05:14 PM US/Eastern John Dunbar, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Write a Comment

WASHINGTON - Millions of US$40 government coupons become available Tuesday to help low-tech television owners in the United States buy special converter boxes for older TVs that might not work after the switch to digital broadcasting. Beginning Feb. 18, 2009, anyone who does not own a digital set and still gets their programming via over-the-air antennas will no longer receive a picture.

That's the day the television industry completes its transition from old-style analog broadcasting to digital.

The converter boxes are expected to cost between $50 and $70 and will be available at most major electronics retail stores. Starting Tuesday, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration will begin accepting requests for two $40 coupons per household to be used toward the purchase of the boxes.

Viewers who have satellite or cable service will not need a box.

To request a coupon, consumers can apply online at www.dtv2009.gov starting Tuesday. The government also has set up a 24-hour hotline to take requests, 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009).

The U.S. Congress, in ordering the transition to digital broadcasting, set aside $1.5 billion for the coupon program, which will fund 33.5 million coupons and other costs.

The giveaway basically works under the honour system.

The first 22 million coupons will go to all households that request them. That includes a residence that gets cable service for one television but has a spare TV that still uses an antenna, for example.

The rest of the coupons, however, are meant only for those who do not subscribe to a pay-television service.

The Nielsen Co. estimates that 14.3 million households, or about 13 per cent of the 112.8 million total television households in the U.S., rely on over-the-air television broadcasts for programming.

[Pikamax]

I checked out the page and I got this spam image to put in,

[mtbopfuyn]

What the hey? And it says, “stop spam read books”???

So, is there really a government coupon or not? Why is the government giving away my tax dollars again?

[KarlInOhio]

To chase people off the analog spectrum currently used by broadcast TV so it can be auctioned off for other uses. If they didn't pay for some converter boxes, then Jesse Jackson would run out, declare digital TV to be racist and TV stations would be required to keep both analog and digital forever.< /only half sarcastic>

[KarlInOhio]

If the federales are only distributing a limited number of coupons, maybe we could save them money by requesting and then not using them. Each unused coupon would be $40 the feds don't spend.

Off to request a couple coupons.

[rabidralph]

How can someone own a TV and not be able to come up with 40-70 dollars for the set-top box? Maybe they should start saving now? This is ridiculous. If they just cut out the purchase of two cartons of cigarettes, they’ll have the money for the set-top box.

[Moonman62]

The coupons expire in three months and so far there are no boxes on the market.

[SW6906]

"Off to request a couple coupons."

Me to!

[SW6906]

OK, I did it twice and both times I got an error. Is this a scam or is this just another example of incompetent government workers?

[Sacajaweau]

"B" is the correct answer. It was on the news today so it's not a scam...

That will come when the boxes go to $150.00.

[KarlInOhio]

It worked for me. You might be having problems typing the "secret words". I had to hit reload a couple of times before I got words I was sure of.

[GAB-1955]

Look, this is a hare-brained idea of Congress, but I’m going to get a coupon because I don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on a new TV set when we got a new one just two years ago (my daughter won it in a DAV raffle). I only want it to see football.

[LibFreeOrDie]

I got errors both times I tried, too.

[CGASMIA68]

don't think so ads been running here for months....I don't quite understand how the box works.....can I get one and get more channels from my ole clunker Zenith through its antenna?

[Hyzenthlay]

Um... if they got the TV for free, for one thing. IIRC, my family only ever bought one TV (we have about 5 by now) and all the rest were hand-me-downs from friends or extended family from when they got new, bigger, better TV’s.

[Kickass Conservative]

“The giveaway basically works under the honour system.”

Yeah, that will work. Wonder if you have to prove you’re a citizen to get the coupon. SARCASM with extreme prejudice.

[SW6906]

$%@#$!! OK, now I've tried it six times in Firefox and three times in IE. None of them worked. I even regenerated the words multiple times to get easy, no chance at mistake words to type in. I am an engineer who has been using computers for close to twenty years. I'm not an idiot (just don't ask my wife for confirmation!)

Eff it!

[Gandalf_The_Gray]

Has anyone gotten a coupon yet? I keep getting "unexpected error" messages with a return to the home screen. It looks like the fix is in!

Regards,
GtG

[rabidralph]

Do you mean that between now and 2009 you cannot save $70 to buy a set-top box? Maybe save $70 every other month and you can outfit all five TVs?

[Ratblaster]

I tried several times. The response words have a lot of Middle Eastern references. Methinks that the site has been hacked.

[SW6906]

And we’ve given them our names and addresses........