February 22, 2008

What Is The TV Converter Box Coupon Program? Part 3 Of The DTV2009 Transition Guide For The Uninformed

In Part 2 of The DTV2009 Transition Guide For The Uninformed we presented 3 different options to prepare for next year's digital TV transition: buy a digital TV, buy a digital receiver, or sign-up for a pay-TV service. Today we want to talk about the second option, buying a digital receiver.

You may have heard of the TV Converter Box Coupon Program, and if not we'll tell you what it's all about. In a nutshell, if you don't have a digital TV and you down right refuse to get cable, you need to get a set-top box that will convert digital signals into analog signals so that your TV can understand them. The Coupon Program is very simple. If you need to buy a set-top box, or two, US Congress will pay up to $40 per box via a coupon obtained by mail-in request. You can get a coupon request form at the Coupon Program website and then print it off of your computer. Converter boxes typically cost about $50-$70 at typical retailers such as Best Buy, so after receiving your coupon, you'll maintain your signal for only about $10-$30. You have to make sure you buy an eligible converter box, so the Coupon Program website provides a list of them for you as well as a list of the retailers that sell them.

You can only use one coupon per box, with up to two coupons available per household and once it's used, it's immediately deactivated. It's that simple.

Read More in: Digital TV Transition 2009