The government’s DTV set top converter box coupon program officially ended on July 31, with that being the last day to request a $40 coupon, or to file an appeal for lost or unused coupons.
The NTIA has been in charge of processing coupon requests and released a tally of the program’s status on Aug. 5. This shows that as of that date, a total of 33,962,696 coupons were redeemed by viewers wanting to upgrade their analog television sets for receiving the digital signals now being transmitted by all full power U.S. broadcasters.
The report noted that a total of 34,757,982 households had been approved to receive coupons during the program’s lifetime, with 64,103,783 actually coupons being requested. In terms of dollars, $1,520,418,865 was committed to cover the cost of coupons distributed, with $303,581,135 remaining in the cash box to cover continuing coupon redemptions.
The coupon program went out in a blaze of glory, logging a sharp peak in activity on July 31. A total of 169,000 coupons requests were received on that date. Earlier July numbers for coupon requests ranged from a low of 26,000 to a high of 78,000 per day, or an average of about 34,000 per day.
These are preliminary figures, as the NTIA is still fulfilling last minute coupon requests, and is waiting for the last bit of dust to settle before turning out the lights for good.
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