The program designed to help people get ready to be transferred to the digital television costs billions of dollars. The money came from the government, but it seems that the billions have ended and the program left millions of TV watchers with no coupons to buy the converter boxes they need as to keep analog TV sets working after they switch to the digital television.

The waiting list for consumers who ask for a $40 coupon to stand for the cost of a converter box has started to be filled this Sunday. The coupons may not reach their hands until February 17, when the full-power television stations will shut off the traditional broadcast and switch to the digital signals.

Meredith Atwell Baker, head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, an agency within the Commerce Department that runs the coupon program, told the Washington Post that they saw a “massive spike in coupons” within the last six weeks. She added that 7.2 million coupons were asked in December and the agency was expecting only 4 million to be requested.

Baker advised the TV watchers to make sure that one TV set is working and is ready for transition, with or without any coupon.

On February 17, nearly 70 million TVs will get digital signals but with no converter box. These boxes are available to be bought, but the Congress allocated 1.34 billion to provide coupons to offset the price, regarding the fact that such a converter box cost from $50 to $80 in stores like Best Buy or Wal-Mart.

Yet, the consumers who have a newer digital TV or those who submit to cable or satellite service won’t lose their programming due to this. In addition, the consumer groups stated that the NTIA should have been ready for a bigger demand for coupons. The consumer accused the agency of the fact that they didn’t notify the Congress about the lack of coupons.