NTIA Chief: Converter Box Program Working
Attwell Baker Points To 6 Million Coupons Mailed
By Ted Hearn -- Multichannel News, 4/15/2008 1:28:00 AM
Las Vegas -- The federal government has spent $20 million to date to help consumers defray the retail cost of devices that convert over-the-air digital TV signals to the decades-old analog format, a Department of Commerce official said Monday afternoon.
“The program in on track and we are thrilled,” Meredith Attwell Baker, Acting Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information, said at a press conference.
Congress established a $1.5 billion program that allows each household to apply for one or two $40 government coupons. After receiving their credit card-like coupons in the mail, consumers may use them at retail outlets like Best Buy and Wal-Mart Stores to buy converter boxes, which cost about $50 to $60 each.
After allowing for administrative expenses, the program has funding for about 33.5 million coupons. The U.S. has an estimated 11 million to 19 million homes that rely exclusively on free, over-the-air broadcasting.
Baker discussed the program while attending the National Association of Broadcasters annual convention here, the last one scheduled before all full-power TV stations need to turn off their analog signals on Feb. 17, 2009.
The goal, she said, is to make the program “as easy as possible for the consumers.”
Old analog TV sets that rely on an antenna to receive programming won't work without the converter box. A cable or satellite TV connection would also prolong the useful life of analog sets.
Baker, who also heads the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, said the program has received 5.6 million applications for 10.6 million coupons. The program began Jan. 1, and NTIA's contractor began mailing coupons Feb. 17.
“I think we've mailed out about 6 million coupons now,” Baker said. “We've had a half-million redeemed.”
More than 1,100 retail outlets are participating by agreeing to stock converters and accept coupons. There are also eight online vendors in addition to four firms taking orders over the phone, Baker said.
“Best Buy, Circuit City, Radio Shack and Wal-Mart have been great leaders of this transition,” Baker said.
She also saluted the NAB president David Rehr and the effort TV stations have put into educating the public at an estimated cost of $1 billion.
“David Rehr and the broadcast industry leaders have just been wonderful work with and we applaud and appreciate their help in his program,” Baker said.
The NAB estimates that pay-TV and broadcast-only homes combined have nearly 70 million analog TV sets that are broadcast-only, meaning NTIA could run out of money to ensure that “no TV set is left behind,” as Rehr put it in his keynote speech Monday morning.
NTIA rules allow each household to apply for coupons until the first $890 million is exhausted; only broadcast-only homes may apply for coupons covered by the remaining $450 million. NTIA has allocated $160 million for administrative expenses.
Actual coupon demand might not use up all the funds because millions of consumers might sign up for cable or satellite TV or replace their analog sets with new digital units that must include over-the-air digital tuners.
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The coupon program can''t be considered to be "working" until the coupons'' arbitrary 90-day expiration date is lifted. The Echostar converter I want won''t be available until August, but my "coupon" (which actually looks like a credit card) will expire in June.
ScotsmansKilt - 4/15/2008 12:39:00 PM EDT -
Working? Working? In the sense that our Iraqi occupation is working? I guess our government will never change - throwing taxpayer money at a problem results in "Mission Accomplished" rather than the mission being accomplished by actual results. Time will only tell if the program has worked and Quig's money is not on the long shot.
Quigley Spargus - 4/15/2008 10:20:00 AM EDT
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