Coupon-eligible converter box
Encyclopedia
A coupon-eligible converter box (CECB) was a digital television adapter
that met eligibility specifications for subsidy
"coupons" from the United States government. The subsidy program was enacted to provide over-the-air TV viewers with an affordable way to continue receiving free digital over-the-air television
services after the nation's television service transitioned to digital transmission
and analog transmissions ceased. The specification was developed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
(NTIA), with input from the broadcast
and consumer electronics
industries as well as public interest
groups.
chairman Joe Barton
of Texas
said he would introduce a bill requiring the transition to digital television "sometime in the spring", saying he wanted analog broadcasting to end on December 31, 2006. Included in his plan was a $400–$500 million subsidy for converter boxes, which were expected to cost $50 each. The subsidies were intended only for people who could not afford a pay service
such as cable or satellite television. Each home would receive a rebate coupon for one box, which could be mailed to the United States Treasury for redemption. Barton estimated that 8 to 10 million converters would be needed.
, part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005
, required that the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) direct all full-power television station
s to cease analog TV broadcasting
before midnight
on February 17, 2009. (This deadline later changed to June 12, 2009.) Recognizing that consumers might wish to continue receiving broadcast programming over-the-air using analog-only televisions, the Act authorized the NTIA to create a digital-to-analog converter box assistance program. Consumer education
plans for the subsidy program were targeted to low-income, elderly, disabled, inner city
, immigrant, and rural
Americans, because these groups were more likely to use an antenna instead of cable
or satellite television
. The Act also established a new Treasury
fund, known as the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Fund. It directed the FCC to deposit the receipts from the spectrum auction
of the returned analog television frequencies into the fund.
The Act directed the NTIA to implement and administer a program through which eligible US households could obtain a maximum of two "coupons" (actually payment
voucher
s) of $40 each, to be applied towards the purchase of a digital-to-analog converter box. The Act defines the term converter box to mean "a stand-alone device that does not contain features or functions except those necessary to enable a consumer to convert any channel broadcast in the digital television service into a format that the consumer can display on television receivers designed to receive and display signals only in the analog television service, but may also include a remote control
device." The Act, however, did not define "eligible household".
As of April 2006, 20 million people (some with more than one set) received only over-the-air TV. When the number of people subscribing to cable or satellite
who also had TVs that only used an antenna, an estimated 70 million TVs would need upgrading.
On March 12, 2007, the NTIA held a news conference to announce the standards for the converter boxes and the requirements for receiving coupons. With the standards established, manufacturing could begin and the NTIA could select a company to send out coupons.
With $1.5 billion in funding, the coupons would account for only half of the 73 million analog TVs not using a pay service, including 18 million in homes having only over-the-air TV reception. The Commerce Department had no plans to make coupons available only to the poor.
Coupons could be requested by phone, mail, or online. At first, anyone would be able to apply, even for those who had one or more TVs connected to cable or satellite.
The NTIA set the standards for the converter box based on what manufacturers and broadcasters wanted. LG Electronics
, Thomson
, Samsung
, and Jasco
were the first companies to announce plans to make the devices. After June 1, 2007, retailers could apply to sell converter boxes. Each would have to be in the NTIA's Central Contractor Registration database, and have been in the consumer-electronics business for at least a year.
To implement the coupon program, the Act authorized NTIA to use up to $990 million from the fund, including $100 million for program administration. Those funds supported an initial "non-contingent" program that was available to all requesting households. NTIA was also authorized to spend up to $1.5 billion for the program (including $160 million for administration) if the initial $990 million were insufficient to fulfill the non-contingent coupon requests. In that case, a "contingent" fund would be available for US households not serviced by cable or satellite. If the funds were insufficient, the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives
and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate
would be notified.
An initial funding of $990 million was expected to allow all US household
s an opportunity to apply for the coupons, which expired 90 days after they were mailed. After that money was used up, $510 million in additional funds was available to households that stated they did not already subscribe to cable or satellite television services. Neither allotment had a means test
.
The NTIA planned to start processing coupon requests a year before the original transition date of February 17, 2009; 2.4 million people had applied for 4.7 million coupons, out of an estimated 13 million homes that still received television with an antenna.
By the end of 2008, the New York Times said "about 40 million coupons have been requested, but to date 16 million have been redeemed, compared with an estimated 35 million televisions that will lose a signal." Institutions, such as retirement home
s, were initially excluded from the program; while this was partially remedied (to allow one coupon per retirement-home resident), prisons, homeless shelters and residential hotels remained disqualified from the coupon program.
On January 4, 2009, the NTIA began placing coupon requests on a waiting list after the program reached its maximum allowed funding. Only after unredeemed coupons expire could new requests be fulfilled. By January 7, NTIA's waiting list included just under a million requested coupons. A week later, the list had grown to two million coupons.
On January 7, both Consumers Union
and Representative Ed Markey
of Massachusetts (who headed the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s telecom
subcommittee) advocated that the February 17, 2009 analog shutoff date be postponed, due to the lack of coupons and NTIA's inability to handle the expected public enquiries. On January 8, President-Elect Barack Obama's transition team
contacted key legislators to express support for a delay, largely because of problems funding coupons for converters. The delay passed early in February (see below).
These features were absolutely required, but varied in the way they are provided by the box.
Coupon-eligible converter boxes had to convert all ATSC (digital) formats to the traditional NTSC
analog system used by analog US television sets. The box must output signals both as a radio frequency
output (compatible with a television's antenna input), as well as composite video
and stereo audio outputs. It must include a remote control, and be compatible with universal remote
s.
The units had to support both a 4:3 center crop
of a 16:9
transmitted image, and a letterbox
rendition of a 16:9
transmitted image. The video outputs had to produce video at an ITU-R
BT.500-11 quality scale
of Grade 4 or higher. Various technical performance parameters for the digital tuner were also specified.
The boxes must decode Emergency Alert System
(EAS) messages, Closed Captioning
data, and Parental Control
(V-Chip
) descriptors. They must decode the Program and System Information Protocol
(PSIP) data from the digital transmission, and use it to provide the user with tuned channel and program information.
CECBs must consume no more than an average of 2 watts of power when not in use
(no video or audio display). They must provide an automatic power-down option that can put the unit in standby mode when it has not received any commands for a while.
testing. The FCC could also test converter boxes at the NTIA's request. Among the optional features permitted, but not required, were the following:
While an outdoor antenna is required for adequate digital reception in most locations beyond 10 – from TV transmitters, and smart antenna
interfaces were an optionally permitted feature of coupon-eligible converter boxes, there were no subsidies for antennas. Although manufacturers could sell a converter/smart-antenna bundle, they were required to also offer the converter by itself to consumers.
DTV converter boxes could earn a United States Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star
label if they consume no more than eight watts of electricity while operating, no more than one watt while in standby mode, and if they automatically power-down after four hours of inactivity.
video output and built-in DVR
functionality. Digital cable
and satellite
set-top box
es that incorporate a digital tuner were also disqualified.
Certain output features were prohibited from coupon-eligible devices: component video
, VGA
, RGB
, DVI
, HDMI
, USB
video, IEEE-1394/iLink/Firewire video, Ethernet
video, and IEEE-802.11/WiFi
video outputs.
Most video recorder
s were also unable to change channels under control of built-in timer
s when using a converter, as channel selection was then handled by the converter. Some converter boxes have a programmable timer, which the user could program to match the recording schedule of their VCR. Then, the converter's tuner will change to the appropriate channel at the time the VCR needs to record. This requires a separate box for the VCR, or the viewer will have to watch what is being recorded. Another, less common option is an "IR blaster", which a recorder can use to control an external tuner, like a cable set-top box or converter box. However, older devices with IR blasters may not be fully compatible with digital subchannel
s; the converter box may require the use of a [-] or [.] button to specify the subchannel, which the pre-digital recorder may not know how to transmit. Some older TiVo
brand digital recorders received software updates specifically to control digital converter boxes via the TiVo's included IR blaster.
Small battery-operated portable televisions, while valuable in time of disaster
, are generally poorly suited to digital conversion. While at least one CECB (Winegard's RCDT09A) is operable from an external battery pack, the combination of television, converter, external antenna, and power supply limits portability. , portable digital LCD TV sets cost at least $100, and could not be used while in motion at significant speeds. (That will require broadcast
ers to transmit mobile TV
via the separate ATSC-M/H
standard, which will itself require new tuners.)
The inability of some boxes to add new digital channels without a full re-scan—deleting all existing channel settings—renders them unusable to viewers who rely on directional antenna
s and rotors
to receive distant stations. Signal strength meters, where available, are awkward, typically only displaying information for channels that have already been found. This is problematic, as digital signals are most often transmitted on higher frequencies or with far less power than their analog counterparts, requiring careful antenna installation, orientation and location to avoid obstructions, fading and multipath interference
problems. Where the converter fails to receive a channel, an often-cumbersome manual process is usually provided; however, this requires knowledge of which frequencies each missing station is actually transmitting on, rather than the virtual channel
s each is mapped to by the ATSC protocol.
Since the NTIA did not require CECBs to output MTS
stereo signals via their radio-frequency output, THAT CorporationWhich licensed the now-expired patents to the dbx noise reduction
technology used in MTS, and still holds patents on some digital implementations of MTS noted that consumers using RF-only connections with CECBs will lose stereo TV sound. This problem may be avoided by using the converter's line level
audio outputs.
(CBA), said only four of 37 NTIA-certified converter boxes had analog passthrough, and none had analog tuners.
In late March 2008, the CBA filed a lawsuit
in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia seeking an injunction
to halt the sale and distribution of CECBs. According to the CBA, the converters' lack of support for analog transmissions would harm its member stations, which include low-power
and class A television stations, as it was cost-prohibitive for many of them to convert to digital transmission. The CBA claimed that the new boxes would prevent viewers from being able to watch these analog-only stations; viewers might not even be aware such stations still existed, because the boxes would not list them. At the time of the digital transition, the FCC did not set a deadline for existing LPTV stations to convert to digital service; however, it announced that no new analog LPTV stations would be authorized.
Responding to the CBA, the FCC and NTIA urged manufacturers to include analog support voluntarily in all converter boxes. Manufacturers responded by releasing a new generation of models with the feature. Some new DVD recorder
s and personal video recorders also provide both analog and digital tuners, and therefore could perform the basic functions of a set-top box in both modes.
In early May 2008, the D.C. district court denied the CBA petition without comment. The CBA felt that the court wanted them to continue working with the FCC. The association said it would continue to pressure the FCC to support analog functionality as a requirement of the All-Channel Receiver Act, urge more government funding for low power and Class A broadcasters to transition to digital, and ask Congress to increase the number of such stations eligible for funds.
On August 13, 2009, the CBA announced that it would cease operations. One reason given was the cost required to fight "restrictive regulations that kept the Class A and LPTV industry from realizing its potential", including the campaign to require analog passthrough. Amy Brown, former CBA executive director, said "some 40 percent of Class A and LPTV station operators believe they will have to shut down in the next year if they are not helped through the digital transition."
In June 2010, the FCC stopped accepting new applications for digital LPTV stations while it considered the spectrum needs of the National Broadband Plan
. In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published in September 2010, the FCC suggested setting a shutoff date for all analog TV transmissions, including LPTV stations, in 2012. It also proposed moving all low-power stations on channels 52–69 to new frequencies, to free the 700 MHz band for other uses. In April 2011, the NTIA announced that it would stop accepting applications for grants toward upgrading LPTV stations to digital transmission as of July 2, 2012. The grant program was initially funded with $44 million; , over $30 million in grant funding remained available.
In December 2008, FCC commissioner McDowell urged "those who don't need the government subsidy not to wait on that process before purchasing a converter box for themselves or as a gift for someone else. During the weeks it takes for the government to process coupon requests, you will lose precious time to hook up the box, check antenna connections, and start enjoying free digital broadcast TV right away."
As economic conditions in the US continued to worsen, demand for the converters increased. Nielsen Media Research
estimated in August 2008 that 25 percent of affected viewers would opt for inexpensive converters instead of replacing existing televisions or switching to cable
and satellite television
subscriptions. By November 2008, 38.3 percent were planning to buy the less-costly converter boxes.
Many retailers had stocked converters based on coupon use and shortages of the converter boxes themselves remained possible. In early February 2009, the Consumer Electronics Association
estimated that three to six million converters were available, while Nielsen estimated 5.8 million American households were completely unready for digital transition. The New York Times estimated that converter supplies could run out by the end of the month. Manufacturers who had halted production ahead of the original February 17, 2009 deadline were to resume converter box assembly but this new stock was not expected in stores until April.
Legislators from the American southwest were among those supporting a delay in the digital cutover, citing safety concerns because as many as a quarter of households in television markets there had not prepared to receive digital signals by January 2009. A judge from Hildago County, Texas noted that Latino, low-income, elderly, and rural homes were at risk. Some residents could receive analog signals from Mexico; Mexico does not plan to transition to digital transmission until the end of 2021
.
The NTIA was legally required to issue coupons on a first-come, first-served basis; viewers in markets where individual stations ended analog broadcasts by the original deadline did not receive priority handling of their DTV coupon requests.
On March 24, 2009, the NTIA announced that the four-million-person waiting-list backlog had been cleared, meaning those whose coupons had expired could reapply. The NTIA estimated 17 million coupons had expired, while 25.7 million—56 percent of those issued—had been used. On April 12, Nielsen estimated that 3.6 million households remained unready.
continued analog broadcasts for up to 30 days afterward as an "analog nightlight"—prohibited from broadcasting regular programming, but allowed to transmit information on how to obtain and connect a converter box to receive digital programming (and send Emergency Alert System
broadcasts.). This allowed viewers who had not converted by the deadline to receive at least one channel that would explain the absence of the other analog channels. The half-hour public service announcement
with English and Spanish segments seen on most such stations was produced by the National Association of Broadcasters
.
Nielsen said 2.5 million homes were still incapable of receiving a digital signal two days after the deadline. On June 17, 2009, the NTIA said two million requested coupons had not yet been mailed.
The NTIA reported that, as of July 22, 2009, 33,578,000 coupons had been used—more than the 33.5 million possible with the original $1.34 billion allocation. $435 million of the extra money added was already owed for pending requests.
U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio
and Senator Bernie Sanders
introduced legislation which would have extended the converter-box coupon program beyond July 31, 2009, subsidized antennas, and require satellite and cable TV companies to provide a $10 basic-broadcast-channel package available to those who had lost the ability to receive at least one over-the-air channel because of the transition. Neither Congressman's bill was passed into law.
At midnight on July 31, 2009, the CECB program expired, without extension. Toward the end of July, consumers were making 35,000 requests for coupons per day, with just over half those issued being used. On July 30, though, the number of requests totalled 78,000, and on the final day, 169,000 were received. Requests sent via mail with a postmark of July 31 or earlier were processed; about $300 million in funding remained. By August 5, 2009, consumers had used 33,962,696 coupons.
The NTIA said 4,287,379 coupons had been requested but not redeemed. As of August 12, $310,796,690 was available, and if all requested coupons were redeemed, $139,300,174 would be left.
An unidentified NTIA source said the agency returned $241.6 million to the Treasury Department
; $2.6 million went to "final closeout costs". After the program ended, $250 million from the original bill had not been used, and the additional $490 million allocated in February 2009 had not been touched. These funds almost equalled the $490 million Congress had appropriated to boost the program in January 2008, when it appeared the program would run out of money. The additional funding was needed to satisfy the accounting rules imposed on the program by Congress, rather than an actual need for the funds. The unused funds from the original bill went to a DTV public safety fund, as required in the legislation.
Digital television adapter
A digital television adapter , or digital-to-analog converter [set-top box], or commonly known as a converter box, it is a television tuner that receives a digital television transmission, and converts the digital signal into an analog signal that can be received and displayed on an analog...
that met eligibility specifications for subsidy
Subsidy
A subsidy is an assistance paid to a business or economic sector. Most subsidies are made by the government to producers or distributors in an industry to prevent the decline of that industry or an increase in the prices of its products or simply to encourage it to hire more labor A subsidy (also...
"coupons" from the United States government. The subsidy program was enacted to provide over-the-air TV viewers with an affordable way to continue receiving free digital over-the-air television
Digital terrestrial television
Digital terrestrial television is the technological evolution of broadcast television and advance from analog television, which broadcasts land-based signals...
services after the nation's television service transitioned to digital transmission
DTV transition in the United States
The DTV transition in the United States was the switchover from analog to exclusively digital broadcasting of free over-the-air television programming...
and analog transmissions ceased. The specification was developed by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that serves as the President's principal adviser on telecommunications policies pertaining to the United States' economic and technological advancement and to regulation of the...
(NTIA), with input from the broadcast
Broadcast
Broadcast or Broadcasting may refer to:* Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals* Broadcast, an individual television program or radio program* Broadcast , an English electronic music band...
and consumer electronics
Consumer electronics
Consumer electronics are electronic equipment intended for everyday use, most often in entertainment, communications and office productivity. Radio broadcasting in the early 20th century brought the first major consumer product, the broadcast receiver...
industries as well as public interest
Public interest
The public interest refers to the "common well-being" or "general welfare." The public interest is central to policy debates, politics, democracy and the nature of government itself...
groups.
Early proposals
In March 2005, United States House Commerce CommitteeUnited States House Committee on Energy and Commerce
The Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name changes and jurisdictional changes—for more than 200 years...
chairman Joe Barton
Joe Barton
Joseph Linus "Joe" Barton is a Republican politician, representing in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1985, and a member of the Tea Party Caucus...
of Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
said he would introduce a bill requiring the transition to digital television "sometime in the spring", saying he wanted analog broadcasting to end on December 31, 2006. Included in his plan was a $400–$500 million subsidy for converter boxes, which were expected to cost $50 each. The subsidies were intended only for people who could not afford a pay service
Multichannel Video Programming Distributor
A multichannel video programming distributor is a service provider delivering video programming services, usually for a subscription fee...
such as cable or satellite television. Each home would receive a rebate coupon for one box, which could be mailed to the United States Treasury for redemption. Barton estimated that 8 to 10 million converters would be needed.
Digital Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005
The United States Digital Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005Digital Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005
The Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005 is a United States Congress legislation enacted on October 20, 2005. This act deals with the cessation of the broadcasting of analog television and the subsequent implementation of digital television...
, part of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005
Deficit Reduction Act of 2005
The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 is a United States Act of Congress concerning the budget, that became law in 2006.-Legislative history:The Senate's version passed after a tie-breaking vote was cast by Vice President Dick Cheney. The bill passed the chamber with no Democrats and five Republicans...
, required that the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC) direct all full-power television station
Television station
A television station is a business, organisation or other such as an amateur television operator that transmits content over terrestrial television. A television transmission can be by analog television signals or, more recently, by digital television. Broadcast television systems standards are...
s to cease analog TV broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
before midnight
Midnight
Midnight is the transition time period from one day to the next: the moment when the date changes. In the Roman time system, midnight was halfway between sunset and sunrise, varying according to the seasons....
on February 17, 2009. (This deadline later changed to June 12, 2009.) Recognizing that consumers might wish to continue receiving broadcast programming over-the-air using analog-only televisions, the Act authorized the NTIA to create a digital-to-analog converter box assistance program. Consumer education
Consumer education
Consumer education is the preparation of an individual through skills, concepts and understanding that are required for everyday living to achieve maximum satisfaction and utilization of his resources....
plans for the subsidy program were targeted to low-income, elderly, disabled, inner city
Inner city
The inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
, immigrant, and rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
Americans, because these groups were more likely to use an antenna instead of cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
or satellite television
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
. The Act also established a new Treasury
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
fund, known as the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Fund. It directed the FCC to deposit the receipts from the spectrum auction
Spectrum auction
A spectrum auction is a process whereby a government uses an auction system to sell the rights to transmit signals over specific bands of the electromagnetic spectrum and to assign scarce spectrum resources. Depending on the specific auction format used, a spectrum auction can last from a single...
of the returned analog television frequencies into the fund.
The Act directed the NTIA to implement and administer a program through which eligible US households could obtain a maximum of two "coupons" (actually payment
Payment
A payment is the transfer of wealth from one party to another. A payment is usually made in exchange for the provision of goods, services or both, or to fulfill a legal obligation....
voucher
Voucher
A voucher is a bond which is worth a certain monetary value and which may be spent only for specific reasons or on specific goods. Examples include housing, travel, and food vouchers...
s) of $40 each, to be applied towards the purchase of a digital-to-analog converter box. The Act defines the term converter box to mean "a stand-alone device that does not contain features or functions except those necessary to enable a consumer to convert any channel broadcast in the digital television service into a format that the consumer can display on television receivers designed to receive and display signals only in the analog television service, but may also include a remote control
Remote control
A remote control is a component of an electronics device, most commonly a television set, used for operating the television device wirelessly from a short line-of-sight distance.The remote control is usually contracted to remote...
device." The Act, however, did not define "eligible household".
As of April 2006, 20 million people (some with more than one set) received only over-the-air TV. When the number of people subscribing to cable or satellite
Multichannel Video Programming Distributor
A multichannel video programming distributor is a service provider delivering video programming services, usually for a subscription fee...
who also had TVs that only used an antenna, an estimated 70 million TVs would need upgrading.
Implementing the program
In 2006, the NTIA let people see its plan for distributing coupons and comment on it. The plan prohibited people with cable or satellite service from requesting coupons. In order to get two coupons, consumers had to state that they had two television sets. In an effort to limit misconduct, coupon requests would be only be taken between January 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009; each coupon would be valid for three months. The consumer-education program only had a budget of $5 million, so the companies participating in the transition would have to help.On March 12, 2007, the NTIA held a news conference to announce the standards for the converter boxes and the requirements for receiving coupons. With the standards established, manufacturing could begin and the NTIA could select a company to send out coupons.
With $1.5 billion in funding, the coupons would account for only half of the 73 million analog TVs not using a pay service, including 18 million in homes having only over-the-air TV reception. The Commerce Department had no plans to make coupons available only to the poor.
Coupons could be requested by phone, mail, or online. At first, anyone would be able to apply, even for those who had one or more TVs connected to cable or satellite.
The NTIA set the standards for the converter box based on what manufacturers and broadcasters wanted. LG Electronics
LG Electronics
LG Electronics is a global electronics and telecommunications company headquartered in Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea. The company operates its business through five divisions: mobile communications, home entertainment, home appliance, air conditioning and business solution...
, Thomson
Thomson SA
Technicolor SA , formerly Thomson SA and Thomson Multimedia, is a French international provider of solutions for the creation, management, post-production, delivery and access of video, for the Communication, Media and Entertainment industries. Technicolor’s headquarters are located in Issy les...
, Samsung
Samsung Group
The Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
, and Jasco
Jasco Products Company
As a GE licensee, Jasco Products Company develops, markets, and distributes more than 2,000 GE branded consumer electronic accessories, computer accessories, home electric products, and security/surveillance products.- History :...
were the first companies to announce plans to make the devices. After June 1, 2007, retailers could apply to sell converter boxes. Each would have to be in the NTIA's Central Contractor Registration database, and have been in the consumer-electronics business for at least a year.
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
would be notified.
An initial funding of $990 million was expected to allow all US household
Household
The household is "the basic residential unit in which economic production, consumption, inheritance, child rearing, and shelter are organized and carried out"; [the household] "may or may not be synonymous with family"....
s an opportunity to apply for the coupons, which expired 90 days after they were mailed. After that money was used up, $510 million in additional funds was available to households that stated they did not already subscribe to cable or satellite television services. Neither allotment had a means test
Means test
A means test is a determination of whether an individual or family is eligible for help from the government.- Canada :In Canada means tests are used for student finance , and "welfare" . They are not generally used for primary education and secondary education which are tax-funded...
.
The NTIA planned to start processing coupon requests a year before the original transition date of February 17, 2009; 2.4 million people had applied for 4.7 million coupons, out of an estimated 13 million homes that still received television with an antenna.
By the end of 2008, the New York Times said "about 40 million coupons have been requested, but to date 16 million have been redeemed, compared with an estimated 35 million televisions that will lose a signal." Institutions, such as retirement home
Retirement home
A retirement home is a multi-residence housing facility intended for senior citizens. Typically each person or couple in the home has an apartment-style room or suite of rooms. Additional facilities are provided within the building, including facilities for meals, gathering, recreation, and some...
s, were initially excluded from the program; while this was partially remedied (to allow one coupon per retirement-home resident), prisons, homeless shelters and residential hotels remained disqualified from the coupon program.
On January 4, 2009, the NTIA began placing coupon requests on a waiting list after the program reached its maximum allowed funding. Only after unredeemed coupons expire could new requests be fulfilled. By January 7, NTIA's waiting list included just under a million requested coupons. A week later, the list had grown to two million coupons.
On January 7, both Consumers Union
Consumers Union
Consumers Union is a non-profit organization best known as the publisher of Consumer Reports, based in the United States. Its mission is to "test products, inform the public, and protect consumers."...
and Representative Ed Markey
Ed Markey
Edward John "Ed" Markey is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1976. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes most of Boston's northern and western suburbs, such as Medford and Framingham. Markey is the Dean of both the Massachusetts and New England House delegations...
of Massachusetts (who headed the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s telecom
Telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
subcommittee) advocated that the February 17, 2009 analog shutoff date be postponed, due to the lack of coupons and NTIA's inability to handle the expected public enquiries. On January 8, President-Elect Barack Obama's transition team
Presidential transition of Barack Obama
The presidential transition of Barack Obama began when he won the United States presidential election on November 4, 2008, and became the President-Elect. He was formally elected by the Electoral College on December 15, 2008...
contacted key legislators to express support for a delay, largely because of problems funding coupons for converters. The delay passed early in February (see below).
Specifications
The NTIA Specification is arranged in three categories, describing required, permitted, and disqualifying features.Absolute requirements
Coupon-eligible converter boxes had to convert all ATSC (digital) formats to the traditional NTSC
NTSC
NTSC, named for the National Television System Committee, is the analog television system that is used in most of North America, most of South America , Burma, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, and some Pacific island nations and territories .Most countries using the NTSC standard, as...
analog system used by analog US television sets. The box must output signals both as a radio frequency
Radio frequency
Radio frequency is a rate of oscillation in the range of about 3 kHz to 300 GHz, which corresponds to the frequency of radio waves, and the alternating currents which carry radio signals...
output (compatible with a television's antenna input), as well as composite video
Composite video
Composite video is the format of an analog television signal before it is combined with a sound signal and modulated onto an RF carrier. In contrast to component video it contains all required video information, including colors in a single line-level signal...
and stereo audio outputs. It must include a remote control, and be compatible with universal remote
Universal Remote
A universal remote is a remote control that can be programmed to operate various brands of one or more types of consumer electronics devices. Low-end universal remotes can only control a set number of devices determined by their manufacturer, while mid- and high-end universal remotes allow the...
s.
The units had to support both a 4:3 center crop
Cropping (image)
Cropping refers to the removal of the outer parts of an image to improve framing, accentuate subject matter or change aspect ratio. Depending on the application, this may be performed on a physical photograph, artwork or film footage, or achieved digitally using image editing software...
of a 16:9
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...
transmitted image, and a letterbox
Letterbox
Letterboxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio. The resulting videographic image has mattes above and below it; these mattes are part of the image...
rendition of a 16:9
16:9
16:9 is an aspect ratio with a width of 16 units and height of 9. Since 2009, it has become the most common aspect ratio for sold televisions and computer monitors and is also the international standard format of HDTV, Full HD, non-HD digital television and analog widescreen television ...
transmitted image. The video outputs had to produce video at an ITU-R
ITU-R
The ITU Radiocommunication Sector is one of the three sectors of the International Telecommunication Union and is responsible for radio communication....
BT.500-11 quality scale
Video quality
Video quality is a characteristic of a video passed through a video transmission/processing system, a formal or informal measure of perceived video degradation...
of Grade 4 or higher. Various technical performance parameters for the digital tuner were also specified.
The boxes must decode Emergency Alert System
Emergency Alert System
The Emergency Alert System is a national warning system in the United States put into place on January 1, 1997, when it superseded the Emergency Broadcast System , which itself had superseded the CONELRAD System...
(EAS) messages, Closed Captioning
Closed captioning
Closed captioning is the process of displaying text on a television, video screen or other visual display to provide additional or interpretive information to individuals who wish to access it...
data, and Parental Control
TV Parental Guidelines
The TV Parental Guidelines system was first proposed on December 19, 1996 by the United States Congress, the television industry and the Federal Communications Commission , and went into effect by January 1, 1997 on most major U.S...
(V-Chip
V-chip
V-chip is a generic term for technology used in television set receivers in the USA, Canada, and Brazil which allows the blocking of programs based on their ratings category. It is intended for use by parents to manage their children's television viewing...
) descriptors. They must decode the Program and System Information Protocol
Program and System Information Protocol
The Program and System Information Protocol is the protocol used in the ATSC digital television system for carrying metadata about each channel in the broadcast MPEG transport stream of a TV station and for publishing information about television programs so that viewers can select what to watch...
(PSIP) data from the digital transmission, and use it to provide the user with tuned channel and program information.
CECBs must consume no more than an average of 2 watts of power when not in use
Standby power
Standby power, also called vampire power, vampire draw, phantom load, or leaking electricity , refers to the electric power consumed by electronic and electrical appliances while they are switched off Standby power, also called vampire power, vampire draw, phantom load, or leaking electricity...
(no video or audio display). They must provide an automatic power-down option that can put the unit in standby mode when it has not received any commands for a while.
Optional features
Manufacturers could self-certify compliance with these requirements, but had to provide test results and two units to the NTIA for ad hocAd hoc
Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning "for this". It generally signifies a solution designed for a specific problem or task, non-generalizable, and not intended to be able to be adapted to other purposes. Compare A priori....
testing. The FCC could also test converter boxes at the NTIA's request. Among the optional features permitted, but not required, were the following:
- Support for a smart antennaSmart antennaSmart antennas are antenna arrays with smart signal processing algorithms used to identify spatial signal signature such as the direction of arrival of the signal, and use it to calculate beamforming vectors, to track and locate the antenna beam on the mobile/target...
, through the use of the CEA-909CEA-909CEA-909 is the ANSI standard for 8VSB/ATSC smart antennas. The basic concept is that the smart antenna either physically rotates toward the signal, or is stationary, but has elements pointed in different directions and uses only those elements pointed toward the signal...
Antenna Control Interface. The manufacturer could optionally provide a promotional package discount for the combination of a smart antenna and a CECB. - Multichannel television soundMultichannel television soundMultichannel television sound, better known as MTS , is the method of encoding three additional channels of audio into an NTSC-format audio carrier.- History :...
(BTSC) stereo at the RF output. - S-VideoS-VideoSeparate Video, more commonly known as S-Video and Y/C, is often referred to by JVC as both an S-VHS connector and as Super Video. It is an analog video transmission scheme, in which video information is encoded on two channels: luma and chroma...
output. - Analog passthroughAnalog passthroughAnalog passthrough is a feature found on some digital-to-analog television converter boxes. Boxes without analog passthrough only allow digital TV to be viewed on older, analog-only TVs...
, as needed for LPTV, broadcast translator, and foreign signal reception. - Electronic program guideElectronic program guideElectronic program guides and interactive program guides provide users of television, radio, and other media applications with continuously updated menus displaying broadcast programming or scheduling information for current and upcoming programming...
- Software updatesPatch (computing)A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance...
. - Support for the Canadian television ratings system, allowing the manufacturer to sell the same device in Canada.
- Support for secondary audio channels, such as foreign languages or Descriptive Video ServiceDescriptive Video ServiceThe Descriptive Video Service is a major United States producer of video description, which makes visual media, such as television programs, feature films, and home videos, more accessible to people who are blind or otherwise visually impaired...
.
While an outdoor antenna is required for adequate digital reception in most locations beyond 10 – from TV transmitters, and smart antenna
Smart antenna
Smart antennas are antenna arrays with smart signal processing algorithms used to identify spatial signal signature such as the direction of arrival of the signal, and use it to calculate beamforming vectors, to track and locate the antenna beam on the mobile/target...
interfaces were an optionally permitted feature of coupon-eligible converter boxes, there were no subsidies for antennas. Although manufacturers could sell a converter/smart-antenna bundle, they were required to also offer the converter by itself to consumers.
DTV converter boxes could earn a United States Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star
Energy Star
Energy Star is an international standard for energy efficient consumer products originated in the United States of America. It was first created as a United States government program during the early 1990s, but Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Taiwan and the European Union have also adopted...
label if they consume no more than eight watts of electricity while operating, no more than one watt while in standby mode, and if they automatically power-down after four hours of inactivity.
Disqualifying features
Some features disqualified a converter box from coupon eligibility, such as high-definitionHigh-definition television
High-definition television is video that has resolution substantially higher than that of traditional television systems . HDTV has one or two million pixels per frame, roughly five times that of SD...
video output and built-in DVR
Digital video recorder
A digital video recorder , sometimes referred to by the merchandising term personal video recorder , is a consumer electronics device or application software that records video in a digital format to a disk drive, USB flash drive, SD memory card or other local or networked mass storage device...
functionality. Digital cable
Digital cable
Digital cable is a generic term for any type of cable television distribution using digital video compression or distribution. The technology was originally developed by Motorola.-Background:...
and satellite
Direct broadcast satellite
Direct broadcast satellite is a term used to refer to satellite television broadcasts intended for home reception.A designation broader than DBS would be direct-to-home signals, or DTH. This has initially distinguished the transmissions directly intended for home viewers from cable television...
set-top box
Set-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
es that incorporate a digital tuner were also disqualified.
Certain output features were prohibited from coupon-eligible devices: component video
Component video
Component video is a video signal that has been split into two or more component channels. In popular use, it refers to a type of component analog video information that is transmitted or stored as three separate signals...
, VGA
Video Graphics Array
Video Graphics Array refers specifically to the display hardware first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, but through its widespread adoption has also come to mean either an analog computer display standard, the 15-pin D-subminiature VGA connector or the 640×480 resolution...
, RGB
RGB color model
The RGB color model is an additive color model in which red, green, and blue light is added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors...
, DVI
Digital Visual Interface
The Digital Visual Interface is a video interface standard covering the transmission of video between a source device and a display device. The DVI standard has achieved widespread acceptance in the PC industry, both in desktop PCs and monitors...
, HDMI
High-Definition Multimedia Interface
HDMI is a compact audio/video interface for transmitting uncompressed digital data. It is a digital alternative to consumer analog standards, such as radio frequency coaxial cable, composite video, S-Video, SCART, component video, D-Terminal, or VGA...
, USB
Universal Serial Bus
USB is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used in a bus for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices....
video, IEEE-1394/iLink/Firewire video, Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
video, and IEEE-802.11/WiFi
WIFI
WIFI is a radio station broadcasting a brokered format. Licensed to Florence, New Jersey, USA, the station is currently operated by Florence Broadcasting Partners, LLC.This station was previously owned by Real Life Broadcasting...
video outputs.
Limitations
Coupon-eligible converter boxes only tune to one channel at a time, as they only contain one digital tuner and no analog tuner. In order to watch one channel while recording another, one must have two such converter boxes, unless the recording device has its own digital TV tuner.Most video recorder
Video recorder
A video recorder may be any of several related devices:*Digital video recorder ; Personal video recorder *DVD recorder*Videocassette recorder *Video tape recorder...
s were also unable to change channels under control of built-in timer
Timer
A timer is a specialized type of clock. A timer can be used to control the sequence of an event or process. Whereas a stopwatch counts upwards from zero for measuring elapsed time, a timer counts down from a specified time interval, like an hourglass.Timers can be mechanical, electromechanical,...
s when using a converter, as channel selection was then handled by the converter. Some converter boxes have a programmable timer, which the user could program to match the recording schedule of their VCR. Then, the converter's tuner will change to the appropriate channel at the time the VCR needs to record. This requires a separate box for the VCR, or the viewer will have to watch what is being recorded. Another, less common option is an "IR blaster", which a recorder can use to control an external tuner, like a cable set-top box or converter box. However, older devices with IR blasters may not be fully compatible with digital subchannel
Digital subchannel
In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a means to transmit more than one independent program at the same time from the same digital radio or digital television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compression techniques to reduce the size of each individual...
s; the converter box may require the use of a [-] or [.] button to specify the subchannel, which the pre-digital recorder may not know how to transmit. Some older TiVo
TiVo
TiVo is a digital video recorder developed and marketed by TiVo, Inc. and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose features include "Season Pass" schedules which record every new episode of a series, and "WishList"...
brand digital recorders received software updates specifically to control digital converter boxes via the TiVo's included IR blaster.
Small battery-operated portable televisions, while valuable in time of disaster
Disaster
A disaster is a natural or man-made hazard that has come to fruition, resulting in an event of substantial extent causing significant physical damage or destruction, loss of life, or drastic change to the environment...
, are generally poorly suited to digital conversion. While at least one CECB (Winegard's RCDT09A) is operable from an external battery pack, the combination of television, converter, external antenna, and power supply limits portability. , portable digital LCD TV sets cost at least $100, and could not be used while in motion at significant speeds. (That will require broadcast
Broadcast
Broadcast or Broadcasting may refer to:* Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals* Broadcast, an individual television program or radio program* Broadcast , an English electronic music band...
ers to transmit mobile TV
Mobile TV
Mobile television usually means television watched on a small handheld device. It may be a pay TV service broadcast on mobile phone networks or received free-to-air via terrestrial television stations from either regular broadcast or a special mobile TV transmission format...
via the separate ATSC-M/H
ATSC-M/H
ATSC-M/H is a standard in the USA for mobile digital TV, that allows TV broadcasts to be received by mobile devices.....
standard, which will itself require new tuners.)
The inability of some boxes to add new digital channels without a full re-scan—deleting all existing channel settings—renders them unusable to viewers who rely on directional antenna
Directional antenna
A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates greater power in one or more directions allowing for increased performance on transmit and receive and reduced interference from unwanted sources....
s and rotors
Antenna rotator
An antenna rotator is a device which is used to change the orientation of a directional antenna. Most antenna rotators have two parts, the rotator unit and the controller...
to receive distant stations. Signal strength meters, where available, are awkward, typically only displaying information for channels that have already been found. This is problematic, as digital signals are most often transmitted on higher frequencies or with far less power than their analog counterparts, requiring careful antenna installation, orientation and location to avoid obstructions, fading and multipath interference
Multipath interference
Multipath interference is a phenomenon in the physics of waves whereby a wave from a source travels to a detector via two or more paths and, under the right condition, the two components of the wave interfere...
problems. Where the converter fails to receive a channel, an often-cumbersome manual process is usually provided; however, this requires knowledge of which frequencies each missing station is actually transmitting on, rather than the virtual channel
Virtual channel
In telecommunications, a logical channel number , also known as virtual channel, is a channel designation which differs from that of the actual radio channel on which the signal travels....
s each is mapped to by the ATSC protocol.
Since the NTIA did not require CECBs to output MTS
Multichannel television sound
Multichannel television sound, better known as MTS , is the method of encoding three additional channels of audio into an NTSC-format audio carrier.- History :...
stereo signals via their radio-frequency output, THAT CorporationWhich licensed the now-expired patents to the dbx noise reduction
Dbx (noise reduction)
dbx is a family of noise reduction systems developed by the company of the same name. The most common implementations are dbx Type I and dbx Type II for analog tape recording and, less commonly, vinyl LPs. A separate implementation, known as dbx-TV, is part of the MTS system used to provide stereo...
technology used in MTS, and still holds patents on some digital implementations of MTS noted that consumers using RF-only connections with CECBs will lose stereo TV sound. This problem may be avoided by using the converter's line level
Line level
Line level is a term used to denote the strength of an audio signal used to transmit analog sound between audio components such as CD and DVD players, TVs, audio amplifiers, and mixing consoles, and sometimes MP3 players....
audio outputs.
Low-power television concerns
A year before the transition, Ron Bruno, president of the Community Broadcasters AssociationCommunity Broadcasters Association
The Community Broadcasters Association was a trade organization representing low-power broadcasting interests, including LPTV and Class A television stations, in the United States of America...
(CBA), said only four of 37 NTIA-certified converter boxes had analog passthrough, and none had analog tuners.
In late March 2008, the CBA filed a lawsuit
Lawsuit
A lawsuit or "suit in law" is a civil action brought in a court of law in which a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant's actions, demands a legal or equitable remedy. The defendant is required to respond to the plaintiff's complaint...
in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia seeking an injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
to halt the sale and distribution of CECBs. According to the CBA, the converters' lack of support for analog transmissions would harm its member stations, which include low-power
Low-power broadcasting
Low-power broadcasting is electronic broadcasting at very low power and low cost, to a small community area.The terms "low-power broadcasting" and "micropower broadcasting" should not be used interchangeably, because the markets are not the same...
and class A television stations, as it was cost-prohibitive for many of them to convert to digital transmission. The CBA claimed that the new boxes would prevent viewers from being able to watch these analog-only stations; viewers might not even be aware such stations still existed, because the boxes would not list them. At the time of the digital transition, the FCC did not set a deadline for existing LPTV stations to convert to digital service; however, it announced that no new analog LPTV stations would be authorized.
Responding to the CBA, the FCC and NTIA urged manufacturers to include analog support voluntarily in all converter boxes. Manufacturers responded by releasing a new generation of models with the feature. Some new DVD recorder
DVD recorder
A DVD recorder , is an optical disc recorder that uses Optical disc recording technologies to digitally record analog signal or digital signals onto blank writable DVD media...
s and personal video recorders also provide both analog and digital tuners, and therefore could perform the basic functions of a set-top box in both modes.
In early May 2008, the D.C. district court denied the CBA petition without comment. The CBA felt that the court wanted them to continue working with the FCC. The association said it would continue to pressure the FCC to support analog functionality as a requirement of the All-Channel Receiver Act, urge more government funding for low power and Class A broadcasters to transition to digital, and ask Congress to increase the number of such stations eligible for funds.
On August 13, 2009, the CBA announced that it would cease operations. One reason given was the cost required to fight "restrictive regulations that kept the Class A and LPTV industry from realizing its potential", including the campaign to require analog passthrough. Amy Brown, former CBA executive director, said "some 40 percent of Class A and LPTV station operators believe they will have to shut down in the next year if they are not helped through the digital transition."
In June 2010, the FCC stopped accepting new applications for digital LPTV stations while it considered the spectrum needs of the National Broadband Plan
National Broadband Plan (United States)
Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan, unveiled March 16, 2010, is a FCC plan which deals with improving broadband Internet access throughout the United States. One goal was providing 100 million American households with access to 100 Mbit/s connections by 2020...
. In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published in September 2010, the FCC suggested setting a shutoff date for all analog TV transmissions, including LPTV stations, in 2012. It also proposed moving all low-power stations on channels 52–69 to new frequencies, to free the 700 MHz band for other uses. In April 2011, the NTIA announced that it would stop accepting applications for grants toward upgrading LPTV stations to digital transmission as of July 2, 2012. The grant program was initially funded with $44 million; , over $30 million in grant funding remained available.
End of subsidies
By early January 2009, the NTIA had issued $1.34 billion worth of coupons for converter boxes, reaching the obligation limit set by the U.S. Congress in the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005. As a result, the NTIA started placing requests for coupons on a waiting list, issuing coupons as previously-issued but unredeemed coupons reached their expiration date.In December 2008, FCC commissioner McDowell urged "those who don't need the government subsidy not to wait on that process before purchasing a converter box for themselves or as a gift for someone else. During the weeks it takes for the government to process coupon requests, you will lose precious time to hook up the box, check antenna connections, and start enjoying free digital broadcast TV right away."
As economic conditions in the US continued to worsen, demand for the converters increased. Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Media Research is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre films and newspapers...
estimated in August 2008 that 25 percent of affected viewers would opt for inexpensive converters instead of replacing existing televisions or switching to cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
and satellite television
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
subscriptions. By November 2008, 38.3 percent were planning to buy the less-costly converter boxes.
Many retailers had stocked converters based on coupon use and shortages of the converter boxes themselves remained possible. In early February 2009, the Consumer Electronics Association
Consumer Electronics Association
The Consumer Electronics Association is a standards and trade organization for the consumer electronics industry in the United States. The Consumer Electronics Association is the preeminent trade association promoting growth in the $173 billion U.S...
estimated that three to six million converters were available, while Nielsen estimated 5.8 million American households were completely unready for digital transition. The New York Times estimated that converter supplies could run out by the end of the month. Manufacturers who had halted production ahead of the original February 17, 2009 deadline were to resume converter box assembly but this new stock was not expected in stores until April.
Legislators from the American southwest were among those supporting a delay in the digital cutover, citing safety concerns because as many as a quarter of households in television markets there had not prepared to receive digital signals by January 2009. A judge from Hildago County, Texas noted that Latino, low-income, elderly, and rural homes were at risk. Some residents could receive analog signals from Mexico; Mexico does not plan to transition to digital transmission until the end of 2021
Digital television in Mexico
Television in Mexico first began in August 19, 1946 in Mexico City when Guillermo González Camarena transmitted the first television signal in Latin America from his home’s bathroom. On September 7, 1946 at 8:30 PM Mexico’s and Latin America’s first experimental television station was established...
.
DTV Delay Act
The DTV Delay Act, signed into law on February 11, 2009, extended the digital transition deadline to June 12, 2009. The DTV Delay Act did not address the shortfall in funding for converter-box coupons; the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, part of a larger appropriations bill signed into law on February 17, 2009, added $650 million in funding—$490 million of that for coupons, increasing the total coupon-fund expenditure to $1.83 billion. By February 18, 36 percent of the United States's full-power stations had transitioned to digital-only, but five million of the nation's 115 million households remained entirely unready; at the time, 4.3 million coupon requests remained on the NTIA waiting list. The NTIA resumed issuing coupons in early March 2009, expecting to clear its backlog in two and a half weeks. Political issues had contributed to the delays in sending out coupons; the NTIA could not issue coupons above the spending limit set in the bill, even knowing that many already-issued coupons would expire. Even though unused coupons meant more money for the program, the coupons had to actually expire before the money could be "reused" for newly-issued coupons. Those coupons it did send out were sent via standard mail, rather than first-class mail, as Congress had required in the legislation, but that caused coupons to be delayed up to four weeks.The NTIA was legally required to issue coupons on a first-come, first-served basis; viewers in markets where individual stations ended analog broadcasts by the original deadline did not receive priority handling of their DTV coupon requests.
On March 24, 2009, the NTIA announced that the four-million-person waiting-list backlog had been cleared, meaning those whose coupons had expired could reapply. The NTIA estimated 17 million coupons had expired, while 25.7 million—56 percent of those issued—had been used. On April 12, Nielsen estimated that 3.6 million households remained unready.
Completing the transition
The analog shutdown for full-power TV stations was completed in mid-2009, with several stations ending analog transmissions well before the June 12, 2009 deadline. (Many transitioned on the original February 17 date.) In most cases, at least one station in each media marketMedia market
A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area , Television Market Area , or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same television and radio station offerings, and may also include other types of media including newspapers and Internet content...
continued analog broadcasts for up to 30 days afterward as an "analog nightlight"—prohibited from broadcasting regular programming, but allowed to transmit information on how to obtain and connect a converter box to receive digital programming (and send Emergency Alert System
Emergency Alert System
The Emergency Alert System is a national warning system in the United States put into place on January 1, 1997, when it superseded the Emergency Broadcast System , which itself had superseded the CONELRAD System...
broadcasts.). This allowed viewers who had not converted by the deadline to receive at least one channel that would explain the absence of the other analog channels. The half-hour public service announcement
Public service announcement
A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...
with English and Spanish segments seen on most such stations was produced by the National Association of Broadcasters
National Association of Broadcasters
The National Association of Broadcasters is a trade association, workers union, and lobby group representing the interests of for-profit, over-the-air radio and television broadcasters in the United States...
.
Nielsen said 2.5 million homes were still incapable of receiving a digital signal two days after the deadline. On June 17, 2009, the NTIA said two million requested coupons had not yet been mailed.
The NTIA reported that, as of July 22, 2009, 33,578,000 coupons had been used—more than the 33.5 million possible with the original $1.34 billion allocation. $435 million of the extra money added was already owed for pending requests.
U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio
Peter DeFazio
Peter Anthony DeFazio is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1987. He is a member of the Democratic Party. The district includes Eugene, Springfield, Roseburg and part of Corvallis. As Oregon's most senior member of Congress, he is the dean of Oregon's House of Representatives delegation...
and Senator Bernie Sanders
Bernie Sanders
Bernard "Bernie" Sanders is the junior United States Senator from Vermont. He previously represented Vermont's at-large district in the United States House of Representatives...
introduced legislation which would have extended the converter-box coupon program beyond July 31, 2009, subsidized antennas, and require satellite and cable TV companies to provide a $10 basic-broadcast-channel package available to those who had lost the ability to receive at least one over-the-air channel because of the transition. Neither Congressman's bill was passed into law.
At midnight on July 31, 2009, the CECB program expired, without extension. Toward the end of July, consumers were making 35,000 requests for coupons per day, with just over half those issued being used. On July 30, though, the number of requests totalled 78,000, and on the final day, 169,000 were received. Requests sent via mail with a postmark of July 31 or earlier were processed; about $300 million in funding remained. By August 5, 2009, consumers had used 33,962,696 coupons.
The NTIA said 4,287,379 coupons had been requested but not redeemed. As of August 12, $310,796,690 was available, and if all requested coupons were redeemed, $139,300,174 would be left.
An unidentified NTIA source said the agency returned $241.6 million to the Treasury Department
United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
; $2.6 million went to "final closeout costs". After the program ended, $250 million from the original bill had not been used, and the additional $490 million allocated in February 2009 had not been touched. These funds almost equalled the $490 million Congress had appropriated to boost the program in January 2008, when it appeared the program would run out of money. The additional funding was needed to satisfy the accounting rules imposed on the program by Congress, rather than an actual need for the funds. The unused funds from the original bill went to a DTV public safety fund, as required in the legislation.
External links
- National Telecommunications & Information Administration DTV website, with Commerce Department Final Rules
- KeepUsOn.com (archived), by the Community Broadcasters Association, promoting analog support in CECBs