When you have a plan, you stick with it. You don't change horses in mid-stream. Everybody had "years" of notice. I say again -- "years" of notice.

Here are reasons I sent to our local station, who is going with Feb. cutoff.

1)       I have a TV tower with separate UHF / VHF antennas. 

a.       I am told a combination antenna works best for DTV. 

b.       Is it my fault that some LAMBRAIN POLICYMAKER decided the DEAD OF WINTER is the best time to be climbing icy roofs and towers?

2)       I was pro-active, and ordered and received my coupons early on, last October.

a.       Nothing on the website jumps out at you that there is a 90-day expiration date for the coupons. 

                                                                           i.      It is now only a single line, in the same font – no flashing, no popup.

                                                                         ii.      I don't believe it was initially on the website at all when I ordered them last September.

b.       The envelope the coupons come in makes no mention of "TIME-DATE MATERIAL".

c.       There is no rationale for even HAVING a 90-day expiration date.

d.       There is no rationale for distributing coupons at all – the discount should have been applied against the converters themselves, tracking the one doing the purchasing, instead of using coupons.

e.       Since I waited to open them until I had time to work on the towers, I now have:

                                                                           i.       2 useless expired coupons.

                                                                         ii.      Apparent punishment for ordering them early on.

f.         The appeal process to replace expired coupons is buried WAAAY BACK on the Fed website.

                                                                           i.      There is no assurance that they will be replaced.

                                                                         ii.      The DO assure you that they are out of money, and may not be getting any more.

1.       Who "blew the estimate" on how much to fund, given that the coupon program ran out of money so early?

g.       Since the coupon program is OUT OF MONEY, my appeal, even if upheld, could be 6 months away.

h.       I have 2 kids in college and will not have spare money to pay the full amount out of pocket, especially throwing in the tower expenses.

                                                                           i.      Although I have Satellite TV, I do not get local channels on Satellite for the above-mentioned reason.

                                                                         ii.      I prefer over-the-air local stations anyhow, because Satellite signal tends to die just when you need it most – when storms are approaching.

3)       You need to give more time for those who did not receive coupons, or for those "stuck" with expired coupons, more time to get new ones, for these reasons.

a.       It is NOT THE VIEWER'S FAULT that the coupon program was underfunded.

b.       The fact that it WAS underfunded is reason enough that WNEP should be going with the extension date.

                                                                           i.      No matter how you slice it, your failure to extend means viewers will be cut off, due to this inept implementation of the coupon program.

c.       Your station, despite months of talking about the deadline, made NO MENTION that I ever heard, that the COUPONS HAD AN EXPIRATION DATE!

                                                                           i.      Not quite sure how such an important detail could be left out.

                                                                         ii.      This failure is another reason you need to go with the extension.

what a bunch of babies!we went out with the idea of buying a new tellie.when we saw the herd mentality at the places we went to shop i wandered over to the converter box display and read the directions to install,looked at the price and thought this is a no brainer.paid sixty bucks took it home and hooked it up...why didn't we do it sooner.before we were getting maybe six channels only one really worth tapeing now we get i don't know nineteen!oh and after installation i called the number and applied for the "refund coupon" silly me thinking it was a mail in refund.it came and i discovered it was "upon purchase"fortunately,the govt. has no grasp of the enghlish language and the retailer was challenged but happy to give us the refund.in short just work the gd system.i wish this was the toughest thing to face this year!!!!!!

Stations have prepared for a long time to get off expensive and old equipment. The have new automated equipment running. Normal business operations would drop an old costly technology. In this case, the government wants to give money to those who have old TV's. From my pocket to theirs!! So, any new station that is ready and needs to change to eliminate the old equipment and high cost, should just quit the analog transmission on 2/17.

The govnment shouldnt be giving out the coupons in the first place.

A coverter box is NOT that expensive, and TV's are NOT a neccessity.

If someone actually has to set some money aside and save up for a few months before going to buy a $40 converter box, then big deal. It's not that expensive.

But the government has bigger things to worry about and needs to put the money to more usefull causes

For one I think they should stay with 2/17/09 and do the changeover after all everyone had plenty of time to do it. If you waited to the last minute than that is your problem not anyone else, you are just looking for excuses for your own mistake.

Beside I am sick of hearing about it everyday on the news besides the adds just change it over so we all can move on.

For all the cry babies get a life you might learn to like the new veiwing.

Wow, for a change, I read some of the responses above before reaching the spot where I could also respond. It would appear that I have a different take on this: it may well be that those stations whose analog broadcasting will "go to black" at the end of the month may very well permanently lose a lot of customers. If the same thing happens on the mainland that's happened in Hawaii, some the broadcasters (NBC & PBS) have moved their digital transmission point to "the back of beyond"; and there are any number of viewers in Honolulu, at least, who've not received their programming since Jan. 15th. I guess those responders, above, must be the typically unsympathetic rich among us, huh?! I don't know, I think that, maybe, the reported "twenty percent" who use antennas may be more important to the advertisers, and therefore the broadcasters, than was expected. Especialy in vew of the fact that, in this economy, not a few cable subscribers may drop their cable service and get those "rabbit ears."