Analog To Digital Conversion Delayed – Or Maybe Not
The mandatory deadline for the analog to digital conversion of the over-the-air television signal has been extended from February 17th to June 12th. So those of us who get their TV signal from an antenna over the air now have a few more months until we need to have a converter box to capture the digital signal, right?
Wrong. At least, for some of us.
My local television stations have started broadcasting a message that although the deadline for mandatory conversion has been extended, this is just the deadline. And they will be completing their conversion on February 17th as planned.
Now, for those who use the over-air signal to watch TV, that really stinks!
The deadline was extended , in part, because the government-sponsored coupon program to help people buy a converter box for their TV is out of money. If you go to the website to order a coupon, you are put on a waiting list with this message:
On January 4, 2009, the Coupon Program reached its authorized funding ceiling. However, coupon requests from eligible households are still being accepted. Applications are placed on a waiting list, and will be filled on a first-come-first-served basis as funds become available from expiring coupons. You will not receive coupons until funds become available.
Yet, our local stations will be converting to digital in less than a week anyway. Um... thanks?
We personally get our signal from a cable company, so we will not be affected by the transition right now. However, the principle of the thing infuriates me. If I decided to cut our cable television out of our budget, I would have to get converter boxes for two of our three televisions, and the promised government coupon to help me do so would not be happening. But yet we march on to convert here on the original schedule.
Are you ready for the analog to digital conversion?
No related posts.
13 Responses to “Analog To Digital Conversion Delayed – Or Maybe Not”
February 12th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
My husband and I purchased the box a long time ago when voucher program first came out. At that time we had an older TV and no cable. Now we have a newer TV (still no cable), but we don’t need the box. I really am not concerned by the changed deadline – we’ve all had plenty of notice – at least a year I believe – it’s not as if this is a surprise. Also, I think that watching TV is a priviledge, not a right that the government has to subsidize. If you cannot afford to watch TV and pay for the coverter, that’s okay – go outside and enjoy the fresh air instead! As for our family, since we didn’t need the box anymore, we took the opportunity to bless another family that had not purchased theirs yet.
February 12th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
I for one am disappointed that the gov’t extended the deadline. It had silly reasons too. There has been PLENTY of time for people to switch over to a digital box, tv, or signal. I for one hope my local stations switch over so I don’t have to watch those annoying commercials any longer.
February 12th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
I’m ready, but when I was purching mine, I saw notices that you HAD to have the coupon to purchase one.
So if you wanted to go in and pay full price for it you couldn’t.
February 12th, 2009 at 5:13 pm
It’s my understanding that even though some stations will be going to digital, they will not discontinue their over-the-air broadcast. Of course, I’m sure that will be one of those “check with your local station” deals.
February 12th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Here’s my gripe: We ordered our coupons promptly when the program began. Then we watched for good prices on the boxes (which were expensive at first). Finally, the prices started coming down. But when we tried to buy, all the stores were out. When our coupons got close to expiring, we still couldn’t find in-stock converter boxes at a reasonable price. So our coupons expired. We were even on a waiting list at Walmart, but by the time they had them in, our coupon expired and they wouldn’t take them. The gov’t won’t issue us more coupons, so we are out of luck too.
It makes me wonder: if people have the coupons but can’t use them b/c they expired, the gov’t won’t actually be spending the $. So they THINK the funding has run out, but it hasn’t really. So why can’t we use the expired coupons?
February 13th, 2009 at 7:30 am
We’re ready. We ordered the coupon and bought the box when they first came out. I don’t like the digital. We live by an airport and every time a plane flies over, it messes with our signal. Most our stations are converting on the original date, so I’m glad we’re ready.
February 13th, 2009 at 9:23 am
I agree that people have had PLENTY of time to get the boxes. My husband and I also weren’t able to use our coupons before they expired (we just didn’t have the money at all…we wanted to be able to eat). We were able to get a coupon from my mom who ordered two just to have boxes in case she ever cancelled cable (which I think a lot of people did). She gave us one of hers. From what I remember you could buy converter boxes online from several retailers, you didn’t have to buy them in store.
A. D.: They did run out of funding for all of the active cards that are out. That is why they have the waiting list, as coupons expire and aren’t used they make new coupons available to those on the waiting list.
February 13th, 2009 at 10:58 am
I thought I read somewhere that the FCC wasn’t letting TV stations that still intended to convert on Feb. 17 do it. I know the stations in our area were all ready to go too, but now have a notice out on their websites that they won’t be converting over until June.
February 14th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
I am actually a little irritated that they pushed back the deadline. For one, there was PLENTY of time for people to get a converter box. Two, it’s television, it’s not a necessity in life by any means! Even if one doesn’t have internet access, you can get news on a radio, and anything else is just entertainment — nice to have, but not a necessity. Three, it kills me that the government is spending so much time and money on this. Four, I am SO tired of the stupid commercials!!
I wish the switchover would just happen and all the commercials would go away. The government obviously has far bigger problems to deal with than people not having access to television programming!!
February 14th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
I agree that people have had plenty of time to do what was necessary to switch over, and in that sense, the delay irks me because it seems like it’s just enabling people. I’m a huge procrastinator, but I requested our coupons early on for fear the funding would run out. The fact that the coupon program really didn’t work as planned and the funding is gone before people had a chance to get coupons is a somewhat valid reason for delaying the conversion, but, like an earlier commenter said, watching TV is not really a right.
February 15th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
To tell the truth, I haven’t been paying attention to this issue at all because we don’t have any tv service; the antenna jack broke a few years ago and we never got around to fixing it. But we just inherited a late-model TV from my grandmother, which I presume is digital-compliant, though we haven’t checked. Does digital TV really come without advertising? How will the networks make their money?
February 16th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Can we just make the switch. I hate the wait. I want my HDTV
February 21st, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I don’t mind it one way or another, waiting for the conversion or doing it now. There was plenty of warning, *but* many people were waiting for the coupons (which is a lovely way for the government to track people’s goings-on).
My only issue has been that we got that stupid converter box and then found that our antenna was “too old” and had to buy a new one.
It’s kind of ridiculous to force a swap like this on so many companies and people when the way it’s been has been just fine… and in some respects, better.
Leave a Comment