The DTV Converter Box Coupon Program and Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About It
The United States government launched the TV Converter Box Coupon Program on January 1, 2008 to help U.S. consumers upgrade their old analog Television sets to accept Digital Broadcast signals.
DTV and the Coupon Program
In 1996, after years of studies by government/television industry committees, U.S. Congress deemed Digital Television as an acceptable upgrade to the 50-year-old analog television broadcasting technology.
At that time, Congress authorized the distribution of an additional broadcast channel (for digital broadcasting) to each broadcast TV station so that they could broadcast both analog and digital channels simultaneously.
In 1997, All public TV stations were to broadcast digital only signals by May 1st, 2003, but more than half of the country’s 357 public TV stations missed the deadline. (Source: Current.org) At that time, the FCC issued extentsions to stations delaying digital only broadcasting.
It wasn’t until The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (Approved by Congress and President Bush), that a final date of February 17, 2009, was set for all TV broadcasters nationwide to switch off their analog broadcasts.
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and the Digital Converter Box Coupon Program
The Act allocated $1.5 billion toward government subsidy to consumers for a new DTV converter box. The converter box would allow all existing television sets to continue to view digital broadcasting after the transition occured on February 17th, 2009.
Additional contingency’s for allocation of funds to the coupon program were included if the original funds were exhausted.
Converter Coupon Program Elgibility and How to Sign Up
The coupon program allows U.S. households to obtain up to two coupons, each worth $40, that can be applied toward the cost of eligible converter boxes. Under the government’s definition, a “household” consists of all persons who currently occupy a house, apartment, mobile home, group of rooms, or single room that is occupied as a separate U.S. postal address
Important: Consumers have from January 1, 2008 until March 31, 2009 to apply for the coupon’s. At this time, there are no plans by Congress to extend this date.
To Apply for a Coupon:
You can Apply online
Call the Coupon Program 24-hour hotline 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009).
Mail a coupon application to: PO BOX 2000, Portland, OR 97208-2000. Download a Coupon Application here.
Fax a coupon application to 1-877-DTV-4ME2 (1-877-388-4632)
Deaf or hard of hearing callers may dial 1-877-530-2634 (English/TTY) or 1-866-495-1161 (Spanish/TTY). TTY Service is available from 9 AM - 9 PM Eastern Time Monday through Friday.
Where is My Converter Coupon?
To check your application or coupon status, go to https://www.dtv2009.gov/CheckStatus.aspx. Be sure to have your reference or coupon number to check your status. As of 5/15/2008, the following information was provided from the NTIA Government website for expected Mail Date’s for Converter Box Coupon’s.
| Application Approval Date | Targetd Mail Date |
|---|---|
| January 1, 2008 | 2/29/2008 |
| January 2, 2008 | 3/14/2008 |
| January 3 - 6, 2008 | 3/21/2008 |
| January 7 - 13, 2008 | 3/28/2008 |
| January 14 - 30, 2008 | 4/4/2008 |
| January 31 - February 16, 2008 | 4/11/2008 |
| February 17 - 24, 2008 | 4/18/2008 |
| February 25 - March 10, 2008 | 4/25/2008 |
| March 11 - 23, 2008 | 5/2/2008 |
| March 24 - April 7, 2008 | 5/9/2008 |
| April 8 - 22, 2008 | 5/16/2008 |
| April 23 - May 7, 2008 | 5/23/2008 |
| May 8 - 22, 2008 | 5/30/2008 |
Related Posts and Reader Questions
Comments
7 Responses to “The DTV Converter Box Coupon Program and Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About It”
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Our TV is 13 years old and I looked at the list for our zenith tv which does not match the number on the list (zenith DTT900/DF2000 will the converter box still work on it???
I have tried and tried and tried to get the coupons on line and can see the code at the bottom of the page to put it in. So I tried to contact them and it requries the same in put of a code at the bottom so you can send an email. But none of this shows up at all. Why is it that the Goverment of the United States of American….Makes it so difficult to get these coupons? Just like every other Goverment progam, they need to get it together!
(Edited By Admin)
PC Miller, thanks for visiting!
I’ve emailed you the answer to your question, let me know if you have any other questions.
Jay
Eugene, thanks for your opinion and visiting!
I’ve emailed you a direct link to the government coupon site along with a little info.
Let me know if you have any other questions,
Jay
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