The DTV Transition And DTV Delay Act - By: Aydan Corkern

After February 17, 2009, all major television stations across the nation were supposed to switch and broadcast in digital. Broadcasting in digital greatly improves the overall picture and sound quality so that viewers can experience and enjoy the benefits of improved TV broadcasts. The switch to digital also frees up some important frequencies for emergency and police departments, and so that some of these frequencies can be sold to companies to offer broadband services to customers. This digital television transition, however, did not take place as scheduled because a few million households were not ready. News of the DTV transition was relayed for many months, but due to the weakening economy, some households could not afford to make the transition. A digital converter box coupon program was put in place to help those who could not afford or did not want to buy a digital converter box. Each household was eligible to receive up to two coupon vouchers in the amount of $40 and was redeemable at a list of participating retailers. Millions of applications were sent in and millions of households received coupons. The program itself, however, has run into some financial problems, and the program has evidently run out of funds to continue distributing coupons. It has to wait for either more government funding or for coupons that were already mailed out to expire. If you are still in need of a digital converter box, then either download and mail the application or fill out the online form on the DTV coupon program website as soon as possible to be put on their waiting list, as the coupons will be handled on a first-come first-served basis. Only those with analog broadcast tuners would have been affected. The more recent and up-to-date televisions purchased after March 1, 2007 should have come equipped with a built-in digital tuner or receiver that is capable of picking up digital signals without a digital converter box. The DTV transition will only affect how you currently receive your TV service, but not how it functions with low power broadcast channels, DVD and/or Blu-Ray players, and video game consoles. As a result of what would have been millions of households waking up to disrupted TV service on the morning of February 17, the DTV Delay Act was quickly put together by President Barack Obama, which states that the DTV transition be put off until June 12, 2009. Congress voted and passed the Delay Act and has given consumers a few more months to make the transition. The Delay Act, however, is not mandatory, and some who have analog televisions without the digital converter box might have noticed a few channels "disappeared". For the most part, most stations have not switched to digital yet because they do not want to lose their viewers.