70 Year Old Man Shoots TV Over Digital Transition Frustration

A 70 year old man, Walter Hoover, was upset over the new digital transition happening and shot his TV as a result. CNN reporter, Anderson Cooper, has just highlighted this unusual news.

Walter Hoover is a Joplin, Missouri resident who became enraged when his digital converter box did not work, reports say. He fired at least two shots at his television in frustration. His wife then walked to the police station to report the shooting incident. Walter Hoover's wife informed police that he had been drinking prior to shooting the television set. Police then surrounded the Hoover residence and the SWAT team was called in. The police noted Walter was in possession of a high powered hunting rifle. Police tried to make telephone contact with Walter Hoover with no success. The Swat team tried for half an hour to get him to voluntarily come out of his house. He finally gave up and came outside. Walter Hoover was taken into police custody and charged with unlawful use of a weapon. More charges may follow as police further investigate this incident. Missouri is known as the "show me state" and Walter just wanted to be shown his TV shows.

The Digital TV Transition, Also known as DTV, began on February 17th, 2009. Some stations chose to postpone the DTV switch until June 12th 2009 after Obama signed theDTV Delay Act. After that time all stations will switch and you must have a DTV conversion box if you previously received channels through a antenna. Customers can request a coupon worth $40 to help with the cost of a DTV box. Coupons are still available on theDTV 2009 website. You may also call 1-888-388-2009 for more information of the digital TV transition switch. The government website previously ran out of money to fund the DTC coupon program.

The new stimulus bill signed by Barack Obama on February 17th, 2009 will restart the DTV conversion box coupon program. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will help the estimated 2.4 million people who have been waiting for their coupons. The new stimulus bill will put tens of millions of dollars back into the coupon program, Reuters reports.

If you are a satellite or cable subscriber you do not need a converter. Many customers are obviously still confused if they actually need a box or not. My satellite company, Dish Network, still runs adds frequently explaining satellite customers do not need a DTV converter box.

Sources
The Joplin Globe Man shoots TV set; standoff ensues
Cnn Anderson Cooper 360 blog Man shoots TV over converter confusion
DTV.gov website
DTV 2009 website
Reuters DTV coupon backlog seen gone within weeks
DTV2009 coupon program update