Government Details Digital TV Transition Plan

The U.S. Commerce Department's National Telecommunications & Information Administration (NTIA) yesterday took the wraps off of its digital television converter subsidy program that is designed to aid consumers in advance of the March 2009 analog TV shutoff. Starting next January, the program will offer up to two $40 vouchers to households that rely on over-the-air broadcasts -- vouchers that can be used towards the purchase of digital-to-analog converter boxes. If the program spends more than $990 million, the subsidized vouchers will not be available to cable or satellite customers since those systems are expected to have built-in converting methods. An additional $510 million would be made available if the initial $990 million runs out and consumers applying for vouchers from these funds would have to self-certify that they are not cable or satellite customers.

Industry groups have estimated that there are currently about 20 million U.S. households that rely exclusively on over-the-air broadcasts for watching TV. There are an estimated 45 million televisions in these 20 million households, and since the federal subsidy program can only fund about 33 million digital-to-analog converter boxes, it has come under fire from some members of Congress for being inadequately prepared to handle the DTV transition.