Need A Converter Box Coupon? Get In Line
If you were hoping to save some dough by getting a coupon for your TV converter box before the big February 17 deadline, get in line, because the Feds are all out:
"USA Today" reports the $1.3 billion dollar program to offset the cost of buying converter boxes scraped bottom on Sunday.Instead of giving out discount coupons worth $40 apiece, the Feds are now compiling a waiting list. If consumers can't wait, they can always spring for the box's 40-to-70-dollar cost without the coupon. [...]
Satelite and cable users won't need to do anything to be ready, but as ad campaigns have been warning for months, more than 70 million TV's in the United States that use an antenna to receive over the air signals will be left with blank screens unless they have a digital converter box.
For millions of people it's too late to get a government coupon to help pay for the converter boxes in time for the deadline.
"The government sponsored this coupon program to be able to provide each household with up to two coupons for 40 dollars for each converter box. The idea was to try to offset the costs for those families," says the F.C.C.'s Kevin Martin.
Thousands of people are now on a waiting list, as Congress scrambles to find a way to allocate more money to the program.
Consumers can still request a coupon, it just might not arrive in time for the conversion.
I admit I don't know much about the boxes (we have a satellite dish), so here's the question I've had through all of this...what happens when the power goes out? We sometimes use a battery-operated TV to watch the weather radar. Or I had thought about taking a tiny handheld battery TV on vacation to a sporting event. Guess not any more!
And by all means, let's find money to fund this whole converter box thing. We wouldn't want to spend any time or money doing something like, oh, I don't know, finding ways to help people keep their jobs or bringing down gas prices or helping the auto industry or anything like that. Because the TV signal is going to be gone...gone, I tell you! The next step is Armageddon!
Not sure why we had to convert anyway, but I guess we need to stay true to the Government mantra of "If it ain't broke, fix it."
