Across the US - There's bad news if you haven't ordered your digital converter box coupon. Money for the federal government program has run dry and applicants are being put on a waiting list. Many families are counting on these $40 coupons to help them buy a converter box.

The box will let you watch over-the-air digital TV on your older sets. And time is running out. It's a call millions of Americans have to make. Elwood Witcher hoped dialing the government's toll free number would save him big bucks.

Elwood A. Witcher, Needs Coupons - "My money kinda low. I am trying to cover any corner I can."

Instead, Witcher couldn't get through because operators were busy. And when he does get through, he's going to join more than 100,000 people on the waiting list.

Witcher - "Well I guess if I don't get the coupons, I am gonna have to go ahead and buy it. Like I said, I need to have my TV."

Witcher knows that after February 17 he either needs cable, satellite or a converter box to watch TV on his older sets.

Witcher - "Everything would be dead, I guess man."

His chance of getting a coupon now, rests on people who forgot to redeem theirs.

Shermaze Ingram, National Broadcasters Assn. - "Because once the coupon expires, you cannot re-apply for the coupon."

For folks like Witcher, a $40 coupon can make all the difference.

Witcher - "That's $40 I can put somewhere else."

Some lawmakers are now pushing to expand the coupon program. Still, there's a big chance even folks who recently ordered their coupons won't get them by February 17. That's when the FCC is requiring stations to shut off their analog signals.

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