Story Created:
Jan 5, 2009 at 4:04 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Feb 9, 2009 at 11:12 AM CDT
The digital television conversion won't wait for procrastinators.
The government announced Monday anyone requesting
coupons for digital television converter boxes will be placed on a waiting list. As for Monday, the list had 103,000 names on it.
Callers to the hotline to request the $40 coupon are being told funding for the coupon program is no longer available and coupons won't be mailed until funding becomes available.
The U.S. Department of Commerce said a surge in coupon requests in November and December meant all of the $1.34 billion alloted for coupons has been committed.
New money for coupons becomes available as old coupons expire. Coupons require 90 days after being issued. About half of all households are not redeeming their coupons.
The Commerce Department encouraged households to apply for coupons before December 31 to insure coupons would arrive before February 17. That's the day broadcasters shut off their analog signals, leaving viewers only a digital to signal to watch. That campaign produced 7 million coupon requests in December, according to Meredith Atwell Baker, the coupon program administrator.
Baker said she could not provide an estimate for how long people would be on the waiting list.
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