WASHINGTON » The Feb. 17 transition from analog to digital television broadcasts looms, and as many as 8 million households are still unprepared but the government program that subsidizes crucial TV converter boxes is about to run out of money.

People who still rely on analog TV sets to pick up over-the-air signals—whether it is through rabbit-ear aerials on TVs or antennas on the roof—will see their screens go dark when the changeover happens. To avoid that, those people have to switch to cable or satellite TV, buy a television set with a digital tuner or purchase a converter box that can translate digital signals from the airwaves into analog.

To subsidize the converter boxes, most of which cost between $40 and $80 and can be purchased without coupons, the government has been letting consumers request up to two $40 coupons per home. But any day now, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, the arm of the Commerce Department in charge of administering the coupon program, expects to hit a $1.34 billion funding ceiling set by Congress.

Hawaii might have a head start on the federal shortfall because of its early digital TV transition on Jan. 15. The first-in-the-nation transition date has prompted residents to order their redemption coupons early, said Chris Leonard, president of the Hawaii Association of Broadcasters.

“;We're kind of ahead of the mad rush by the rest of the country,”; Leonard said.

Coupon requests from Hawaii have declined since peaking at 5,233 in the week ending Dec. 14. For the week that ended Sunday, only 2,141 coupons were requested.

Hawaii residents had made 50,206 requests for digital converter coupons as of last week. That is more than double the 23,000 households statewide using over-the-air TVs, Leonard said. Hawaii has 424,000 television households.

Residents who still have not requested coupons probably will not get them in time for Hawaii's switch-over date.

But those late starters can still maintain their TV reception by purchasing cable or satellite TV or buying a converter box without the $40 coupon.

Meanwhile, the NTIA is warning that unless lawmakers step in quickly with more funding or new accounting rules, it will have to create a waiting list for coupon requests. That would mean it could send out additional coupons only as unredeemed ones expire, freeing up more money for the program.

In other words, if Congress does not act soon, consumers who apply for coupons in the final weeks leading up to the digital transition might not get them in time.