The Digital Transition has been postponed to June 12, 2009 by the DTV Delay Act

Congress passed the DTV Delay Act, which postponed the digital television transition from February 17, 2009 to June 12, 2009 to give U.S. households additional time to prepare for this historic switch.

Many stations still plan to drop analog broadcasts in less than two weeks.

When Congress postponed the mandatory transition to digital TV until June, it also gave stations the option to stick to the originally scheduled date of Feb. 17.

That means the shutdown of analog signals, which broadcasters had hoped would happen at nearly the same time nationwide, could now unfold in a confusing patchwork of different schedules.

Check our blog/news page for up to date information.

Coupon Program Update

This legislation does not change the operation of the TV Converter Box Coupon Program at this time.  The DTV Delay Act will allow the Coupon Program, upon request, to offer replacement coupons for those which have expired without being redeemed. 

However, this program change will not take effect until the Coupon Program receives additional funding.

For this reason, the Coupon Program cannot accept requests to replace lost, stolen or expired coupons at this time.  NTIA will move quickly to change the program if Congress authorizes additional funding.  If and when funding becomes available, we will send out another newsletter and post the information on our website.

The last day to apply for coupons has been changed from March 1, 2009 to July 31, 2009.

Coupon Program Waiting List

On January 4, 2009, the Coupon Program reached its authorized funding ceiling.  However, coupon requests from eligible households are still being accepted.  Applications are placed on a waiting list, and will be filled on a first-come-first-served basis as funds become available from expiring coupons.  You will not receive coupons until funds become available.

If your application is approved, you can use the automatically-generated reference number to check the status of your request.  At this time, consumers who try to reapply for a coupon which has expired or was lost or stolen will be denied.  If and when the Coupon Program can accept requests to replace coupons which are lost, stolen or expired, we will send out another newsletter and post the information on our website.

The NTIA has recently added these boxes to their CECB list, all with analog pass-through:

Regards,

Ken and Linda from EZ Digital TV