850,000 request converter coupons
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
More than 850,000 people requested $40 coupons for converter boxes that will let old televisions receive digital signals after the U.S. abandons traditional analog broadcasts next year, according to a government agency.
Each household is entitled to two coupons, and the total requested since the program started Jan. 1 exceeds 1.6 million, said a spokesman for the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which handles the program.
The $1.5-billion program is aimed at readying the U.S. for the end of analog TV on Feb. 17, 2009. Digital TV offers clearer pictures and more programming, and frees spectrum for wireless communications.