Grace Leong

Nearly 160,000 households in the Beehive State and parts of Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming could find themselves staring at a blank television screen on Feb. 17, 2009, if they aren't prepared for the transition from analog to digital TV, according to a Nielsen ratings report released on Wednesday.

A federal law enacted in 2006 requires all TV stations to stop broadcasting analog signals starting in February.

To help with the transition, the government launched a $1.5 billion coupon program on Jan. 1 to help millions of consumers pay for digital converter boxes. The boxes, which cost between $40 and $70, provide a clearer picture and free local programming. Cable and satellite TV subscribers do not need the boxes.

So far the coupon program has achieved limited success, but regulators believe some areas, including Utah, could do more to be better prepared for the transition to digital TV.

The Nielsen report found that the Salt Lake market, which comprises a total of 874,650 television households in Utah and parts of Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming, ranked second among the top 10 areas in the country that are deemed the least prepared for the transition.

About 18 percent of the Salt Lake market, or 157,437 households, do not have a digital TV set or a television set that is connected to a cable or satellite service, or a digital converter box, the report said. Nationwide, just under 10 percent of 112.8 million households, or 10.6 million households, are unprepared for the transition.

Anne Elliot, vice president of communications of New York-based Nielsen Co., said she believes it could be due to relatively low cable and satellite TV subscription rates in the Salt Lake market compared with that of the national average.

"Households that subscribe to cable or satellite are better prepared for the digital transition because those providers already take digital signals from TV stations and supply that to their analog TV customers," she said. "The mere fact that the Salt Lake market is below the national average for cable and satellite subscriptions is an indicator why that market is less prepared."

About 77 percent of the Salt Lake market subscribes to cable and satellite TV, compared with a national average of 88 percent. Nearly 40 percent of the Salt Lake market subscribes to cable alone, well below the national average of 62 percent.

The coupon program aims to help, nationwide, up to 21 million owners of analog TV models that rely on antennas or rabbit ears to receive broadcasting signals. Each household is eligible for two $40 coupons, which have a 90-day expiration date. So far, 16.7 million coupons have been requested. Of that, 3.2 million coupons have been redeemed so far, said Todd Sedmark, spokesman for the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which is overseeing the program. To date, 42,000 households in the Salt Lake market have requested more than 76,000 coupons. Less than 3,000 households in Provo have requested the coupons, the agency said.

But some are finding that the government-issued coupons are expiring before they can be redeemed, and some consumers have a hard time finding converter boxes, which are sold out in some stores.

Since the program began six months ago, about 802,000 coupons have expired without being used, Sedmark said. Under current rules, consumers with expired coupons cannot reapply for new coupons.

"If you fail to use the coupon in 90 days, you can ask for your family or friends to apply for the coupon and share it with them, or you can subscribe to cable or satellite, or buy a new digital TV set," Sedmark said. "The monies for the unused expired coupons go back into a fund that helps others requesting for the coupons."

There are 1,900 retailers nationwide -- including Best Buy, Circuit City, Kmart, Sears and Wal-Mart -- participating in the program.