Last Updated on January 21, 2017
If you’re not ready for the transition to Digital Television, which is just a little more than 40 days away, you may have just lost your chance for financial assistance.
The Department of Commerce announced today that it has has committed the entire $1.34 billion available for the coupons and is starting to put new requests on a waiting list.
While it was expected that they’d come close to running out of money, if not running out completely, this earlier-than-expected shortfall is being blamed on a “media blitz” which began around the holidays to educate viewers about the switch from analog broadcasting to digital and how it will affect viewers who do not receive television by cable or satellite.
Of course, it was the FCC that required television stations to beef up their coverage of the transition, including daily countdowns that every station must run.  This started 100 days out from the February 17th switchover date, sometime in early-to-mid November.  (Imagine to yourself for a moment how annoying it is to edit 100 spots that say, essentially, “Television is going digital in just ____ days.”)
The coupons, which promise a $40 discount off the cost of a digital converter box (which generally will otherwise cost $60-70, depending on the model), all have expiration dates, and until more expire, new ones can’t be issued.
If you still have questions about the transition, or if you’re not sure that you’re 100% ready for digital television, now’s the time to get more information, by clicking here.  That page has a lot of information about what the switch will mean to you, but at present, you’ll have to ignore the parts about the coupons, unless you want to have your name added to the waiting list.
Good luck.
