Government program to help people see television after Feb. 17 goes broke

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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The biggest change to television viewing in decades comes on Feb. 17, and now the government program to help people pay for the change-over has gone broke.

The switch from an analog signal to a digital one means that people who get their television by an antennae need a new converter box. The federal program offered coupons to help people pay for those converter boxes.

Television stations want to be sure everyone can still see them. That’s why folks like WLOS have been running a scroll and reminding people every day about the switch now for months.

Meantime, WLOS is going out into the public to try to educate viewers, especially older ones. WLOSers, in conjunction with the Henderson County Council on Aging, will talk about the issue on Jan. 13 at 1:30 at the Henderson County library.