Press Release: Commerce's NTIA Announces More
Than 100 Retailers Certified to Participate in TV Converter
Box Coupon Program for Digital Television Transition
Consumers May Request Coupons Jan. 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009
For Immediate Release: December 11, 2007
Media Contact: Todd Sedmak,
(202) 482-7002 or tsedmak@ntia.doc.gov
WASHINGTON—The Commerce Department’s National
Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced
today that eight of the largest consumer electronics retailers
-- Best Buy, Circuit City, Kmart, RadioShack, Sam's Club, Sears,
Target, Wal-Mart -- have been certified to participate in the
TV Converter Box Coupon Program along with more than 100 other
retailers, representing more than 14,000 stores throughout
the nation, and additional Program details. Attached
is a listing of certified retailers, to date.
Consumers may purchase converter boxes to keep their analog
televisions working with over-the-air broadcasts after February
17, 2009, when full power television stations convert to all-digital
signals.
“NTIA thanks these certified retailers who will participate
in the TV Converter Box Coupon Program and we look forward
to working with them in 2008 and 2009,” said Acting NTIA
Administrator Meredith Attwell Baker. “The TV Converter
Box Coupon Program is on schedule and will be ready to take
consumers’ coupon requests starting January 1, 2008,
as directed by Congress, to ensure the success of the nation’s
transition to digital broadcasting.”
Additional TV Converter Box Coupon Program updates include:
- Consumer-friendly
name and logo tested nationwide by targeted audiences (see
attachment);
- Converters
by DigitalSTREAM, Zenith, Magnavox, and Philco have been
certified for purchase with coupons and more are
expected in the next several weeks;
- The program name, “TV
Converter Box Coupon Program,” and
consumer-tested brand will help television viewers know that
this is an official Government program;
- A simple one-page application only requesting name, address,
one or two coupons and if the household subscribes to cable,
satellite, or pay TV service (see
attachment);
- Coupons planned for distribution to consumers
beginning February 17, 2008;
- Starting January 1, 2008,
households can request coupons when the program’s toll
free number, Web site, fax and P.O. Box go live (see background
information below); and
- More than 140 governmental and national organizations will
work to ensure vulnerable communities are not left without
broadcast television because of a lack of information about
the transition.
Examples include:
- The NAACP and the Native American Journalists Association;
- NTIA is working closely with the National Association
of Broadcasters, the National Cable & Telecommunications
Association, the Consumer Electronics Association and the
Digital TV Transition Coalition, which consists of more than
180 national organizations and industry partners providing
public service announcements and consumer education worth
nearly $1 billion;
- The Veterans
Administration (VA) will work with NTIA to ensure that digital
transition information and Coupon Program applications are
available in 155 VA hospitals and 1,000 clinics, and the
VA will inform 240,000 VA employees; 1 million VA volunteers;
and more than 1 million veterans not served by the VA about
the transition;
- The American Library Association’s 65,000
members will work with NTIA to inform the public and librarians
about the digital transition and will work with librarians
to post information about the Coupon Program at their libraries
and on their Web sites; and
- Univision has announced an extensive
campaign to educate Hispanic TV viewers about the digital
transition and the Coupon Program. NTIA is working closely
with Univision to ensure its ads are timed appropriately
for the distribution of coupons to the public.
NTIA, Panasonic Corporation,
and the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center are providing
information to the public in Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and
the Filipino language, Tagalog. The Center will distribute
information and will encourage the Cambodian-American, Laotian-American,
and Vietnamese-American communities to use the Government’s
multilingual call center to apply for coupons.
For more information about the TV Converter Box Coupon Program,
go to www.ntia.doc.gov/dtvcoupon and
for more information about the entire digital television transition,
go to www.dtvtransition.org.
Background:
The Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005
requires full-power television stations to cease analog broadcasts
and switch to digital after February 17, 2009. The Act
also authorizes NTIA to create The TV Converter Box Coupon Program.
Digital television provides consumers with a clearer picture,
more programming, and frees up spectrum for advanced wireless
broadband services and interoperable communications among emergency
first responders.
By February 17, 2009, consumers need to look at each analog
television set in their home that is not connected to cable,
satellite, or other pay television service and make a decision:
- They may connect it to cable, satellite, or pay television
service;
- They may replace it with a TV with a digital tuner or
- They may keep it working with a TV converter box.
Coupons are worth $40 each, to be used toward the purchase
of up to two, digital-to-analog converter boxes. Between January
1, 2008 and March 31, 2009, households can request coupons
while supplies last in one of four ways:
- Apply online at www.dtv2009.gov. This
website will be active on Jan. 1.
- Call the Coupon Program 24-hour hotline 1-888-DTV-2009 (1-888-388-2009), TTY 1-877-530-2634
- Mail a coupon application to: PO BOX 2000, Portland, OR 97208-2000
- Fax a coupon application to 1-877-DTV-4ME2 (1-877-388-4632)
NTIA will provide consumers a list of eligible converters
and participating retailers when coupons are mailed and on
its Website. Coupons expire 90 days after they are mailed,
and only one coupon can be used to purchase each coupon-eligible
converter box.
NTIA encourages the voluntary participation of consumer electronics
retailers. The application deadline to become a certified
retailer is March 31, 2008.
Consumer electronics retailers
interested in participating in the program should go to www.ntiadtv.gov or
call 1-866-296-1107 for additional information and to sign
up as a participating retailer.
NTIA is responsible for the development of the domestic and
international telecommunications policy of the Executive Branch.
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