Millions of households that depend on the use of indoor or outdoor antennas to receive television reception from local broadcast stations may go dark. 20 million homes could be affected by the end of analog broadcasting on February 17, 2009 since they rely solely on over-the-air television signals. The DTV transition will be a historic moment in the evolution of TV. Public and private organizations are working together to educate consumers about the transition to digital broadcast. Dont; get scammed by not understanding how the change will affect you.

It will free up frequencies for police, fire, emergency rescue, and other public service communications. The remaining bands of the spectrum will be auctioned off for the production of new services and technologies. Since DTV uses less spectrum than analog, broadcasters can offer full high definition programming (HDTV) or several standard digital (SDTV) shows which means more programming choices for viewers. The digital transition will not affect cable or satellite TV subscribers who receive their local TV stations through their providers. For business reasons, your cable or satellite provider may or may not have already made the change to digital television. Once the change to digital transmission is complete you will still be able to continue using your analog television.

If you have one or more televisions that receive free over-the-air television programming you have three choices to continue receiving your programming. If you don’t have a digital TV, you’ll have to get a digital-to-analog converter box for your analog TV. Your second choice is to subscribe to a cable, satellite or other subscription service provider if all your local broadcast stations are carried by one of those services. If you are without a subscription service or a converter box you will need to purchase a new television set with a built-in digital tuner.

The federal government created the TV Converter Box Coupon Program for users wishing to keep using their analog TV sets after the DTV transition. Every U.S. household may receive up to two coupons for $40 off the price of two eligible converter boxes. NTIA is accepting applications for the coupons Between January 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009.

Four ways to apply:
Four ways to apply:
1. Apply online at dtv2009.gov
2. Call 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009) or 1-877-530-2634 (TTY)
3. Mail the application to: PO BOX 2000, Portland, OR 97208-2000
4. Fax the application to 1-877-DTV-4ME2 (1-877-388-4632)

You will need to take action before February 17, 2009 if you currently watch TV on an analog TV set that is not connected to a subscription TV service.

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