Better Business Bureau Serving Southwest Idaho & Eastern Oregon Blog

In February 2009, your local TV station will change the way it broadcasts. TV stations broadcast in “analog”, a means of amplifying or varying the signal to add information, to digital. This will open up many additional frequencies and drastically increase quality of the picture and sound. One morning in February, if you haven’t converted over, there will be no picture, sound or anything. The Government is making the transition more cost effective by making coupons to purchase converters which you can use to adapt your current TV to digital. The problem is that these coupons have an expiration date (90 days) and in a survey conducted by the Government Accounting Office (GAO), the official “bean-counter” of the USA, less than half of the households surveyed were ready for the transition; and 40% of the 800,000 coupons had not been redeemed. Many were not aware of the effects of the DTV transition and misunderstood what is involved. You can find the facts at www.dtv.gov. Also, if you have recently purchased a new TV, it may be ready for the transition without buying a converter. Remember, 8 months to go before the transition.