WASHINGTON (AP) -- Coupons days are here for owners of outdated analog televisions.The federal government said Friday it will begin mailing out $40 coupons next week to consumers to help pay for converter boxes that will save their analog sets from becoming obsolete.
TV viewers who get their programming over an antenna and are not connected to cable or satellite will need a converter box when full-power broadcast stations begin transmitting digital-only signals in February 2009. An estimated 13 million to 21 million U.S. households are in the analog-set set.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration agency is overseeing the $1.5 billion coupon program to subsidize converter-box costs, estimated to run between $40 and $70. More than 2.6 million households have requested nearly 5 million coupons since Jan. 1, the agency said.
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