With the digital TV transition now 100 days away, the government is claiming some success with its coupon program for digital television converters.
In connection with a DTV news conference today sponsored by the National Association of Broadcasters, Meredith Baker, acting administrator of the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications & Information Administration, said 62% of households that currently rely on antennas to get broadcast TV have requested government coupons that help defray the cost of converters.
The government coupons provide $40 toward the cost of converter boxes.
The request for coupons doesn’t mean the households have actually obtained converter boxes.
Ms. Baker said 17 million households had requested 33.5 million coupons and 13.5 million of those coupons have been redeemed.
“I am very pleased with the large number of over-the-air households we have served,” she said, adding that NTIA realizes more people need coupons.
Of the nation’s 210 television markets, NTIA said that in 172 more than 50% of the over-the-air households have applied for coupons and 45 markets have a 75% or greater participation rate.
The markets with the highest coupon application rates include Wilmington, N.C., where the nation’s first digital switchover took place on Sept. 7; Salisbury, Md.; Myrtle Beach-Florence, S.C.; Quincy (Ill.)-Hannibal (Mo.)-Keokuk (Iowa); and Charleston-Huntington, W.Va. The markets with the lowest coupon application rates are Juneau, Alaska; Glendive, Mont.; Honolulu; Eureka, Calif.; and Anchorage, Alaska.
(10:20 a.m.: Updated second paragraph)