Government Offers Discount For TV Converters

Digital television converter boxes are in stores now and the government is offering $40 discounts to buy them.  The News On 6's Emory Bryan reports not everybody needs one. 

It's one of the newest products at the Radio Shack at 27th and Harvard.  It's a digital television receiver and a converter for analog televisions, basically a bridge between the old and new technology.

The box will pull in the new digital television signal and convert it so people can watch on their old televisions.

"The people who need this box are those who have the old analog televisions that are not hooked up to a digital service like cable or satellite.  If they're just using antenna on their TV now, they're going to need a converter box to make that change," said Cyndi Tyler, Radio Shack Manager.

This box does that and it sells for about $60.

Through a TV converter box coupon program, the government will knock $40 off so it really only costs $20.

The government subsidy can only be used for converter boxes, not for new televisions that have the technology it built in.

People must apply for the coupon which can be done online, by phone or mail.  The government sends out the discount coupon which can be used at several major stores, like Radio Shack, that sell the boxes.

"And we just use them like a coupon, it takes $40 off the price of a box," said Tyler.

Tyler says with coupons arriving now, interest is increasing in the technology and people want to know how they can receive the new and better digital signal.

With the little box, and the discount, it's a $20 investment to get in on the next step in TV technology.

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