It’s not a coupon. It’s a plastic debit card, with a security hologram.  Just little personal piece of $650 million in the stimulus bill.

From the Wall Street Journal, “Converter Shortage May Hamper Digital-TV Switch“:

Congress set aside $650 million in the economic stimulus bill to pay for more coupons and earlier this week, the government said it has cleared its backlog of 4.2 million requests and those consumers should receive coupons by next week. Consumers who didn’t use the coupons before they expired can now apply for replacement coupons, federal officials say.

Pero, “Los cupones no pueden ser reemplazados.” Says so right on the sheet.

We belong to the subset of consumers who used analog TVs without cable or satellite, but upon hitting the first conversion date, just decided to buy a digital broadcast TV. So it’s “Rockford Files” every night at 10.

What do with the coupon? Package it with White House Easter egg roll tickets in an E-bay deal? (the Easter egg event is turning into a big mess.)

Nope. No sales. Verboten. You have to buy the converter box and THEN sell it.

The House Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet held a hearing yesterday entitled, “Oversight of the Digital Television Transition.” Gary Shapiro, the head of the Consumer Electronics Association, led his prepared statement by offering this assessment:

There are three main points that I wish to make before this DTV transition oversight hearing. First, the DTV transition has been and will continue to be perhaps the most successful partnership of any kind between government and industry in our nation’s history. Second, as the experience of February 17th demonstrates, consumer experience with the DTV transition looks much more like Y2K than Hurricane Katrina. With our most recent survey of the market, we see ample evidnece to suggest that manufacturers and retailers will continue to meet consumer demand for converter boxes and antennas. Finally, in light of the program’s success and the enormous benefits arising from broadcasters’ migration to digital spectrum, Congress must not again delay the transition beyond June 12th.

The most successful partnership? Well, WWII’s arsenal of democracy might slip into first place on that list. Or the 19th century’s expansion of the railroads. Or the vast extension of Americans’ lifespan in the 20th century.

But as far as no more delays, RIGHT!

A commenter makes the point that the DTV transition was far more than just an inconvenience as we suggested in drawing a comparison to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.  Noted and reaffirmed by today’s news.

From today’s Washington Post, Federal City Digest column:

Nearly 500 television stations told the Federal Communications Commission last week that they intended to go ahead and change to digital broadcasts tomorrow, the deadline for the switch they had been planning around for three years. But when Congress postponed the deadline, moving it to June 12, the FCC said it reserved the right to prevent stations from switching on the earlier date if it posed a public safety threat to particular markets.

The FCC initially responded that it would not let 123 stations switch tomorrow, our colleague Kim Hart reports, primarily because every major commercial station was planning to switch in some markets, potentially throwing consumers without digital-enabled TV sets into the dark about important public safety information and news alerts. It then amended that number to 106…[snip]

Net result: Fifty-three stations made such moves and will switch early, 10 are in limbo pending hardship appeals, and 43 must wait.

For a market-specific report, the Duluth News-Tribune has a good column, observing “Broadcasters worked a year or longer, and at great expense, not only to inform the public but to explain how to connect converter boxes or how to take other necessary measures…The intervention of Congress turned what had been a well-planned, well-publicized transformation into confusion and chaos.”

From conference report to H.R. 1, the economic stimulus bill.

DIGITAL-TO-ANALOG CONVERTER BOX PROGRAM For an amount for ‘‘Digital-to-Analog Converter Box Program’’, $650,000,000, for additional coupons and related activities under the program implemented under section 3005 of the Digital Television Transition and Public Safety Act of 2005, to remain available until September 30, 2010: Provided, That of the amounts provided under this heading, $90,000,000 may be for education and outreach, including grants to organizations for programs to educate vulnerable populations, including senior citizens, minority communities, people with disabilities, low-income individuals, and people living in rural areas, about the transition and to provide one-on-one assistance to vulnerable populations, including help with converter box installation.

From the Washington Post, “500 TV Stations Still Plan to Make Digital Switch Next Week”

With millions of U.S. viewers still apparently unprepared for the nation’s switch to digital TV, nearly 500 full-power television stations across the nation are preparing to move ahead with the transition and drop traditional over-the-air broadcasts next Tuesday.

So the impact of Congressional action in legislating the delay to July 31 was to cause more confusion, more disruption and, we bet, more litigation. No surprise, really.

Personal testimony: Having bought an over-the-air digital TV last week, have to admit that it’s better than the rabbit-eared analog. Now, A-Team and Rockford Files reruns every night! And eight different weather maps. And Baltimore local news reports. And every “Austin City Limits” ever broadcast.

Why delay?