Stimulus Brings Back TV Converter Coupons

The agency that mails out coupons for digital TV converter boxes expects to eliminate its wait list in 2½ weeks, an official said today. Helped by $650 million from the economic stimulus package, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration has started to mail out coupons to the 2.3 million households on the wait list.

The fund that pays for the $40 coupons reached its spending limit in early January. The NTIA was still able to mail out coupons, but only as old ones expired, 90 days after being issued. US full-power TV stations were scheduled to turn off their analog signals Feb. 17, but because of the coupon backlog, the deadline was extended to June 12. (More digital television stories.)