GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Television will be making the switch to digital in February. That means many viewers will need to hook up a digital converter box to their TVs in order to keep getting local channels.

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Digital Coverter Information

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But not everyone has been able to do that. It's a matter of supply and demand.

The converter boxes have been flying off the shelves before some people get a chance to grab one.

Walter Burnett has looked high and low to find one.

"Everywhere I call, no one has them," he said. "They keep saying they're going to be in the next day or two, next day or two. Well, I keep calling everyday, and nobody gets them."

He's running out of time to use the $40 coupons that the government issued to help people pay for the switch to digital.

"When you order these converter tickets, they're only good for 90 days from the day you receive them," Burnett said. "Mine will expire Aug. 1."

He said every time he tries Wal-Mart, they say they're sold out, and the same thing happens at Radio Shack.

Radio Shack will accept the coupons now, even though they don't have the converter boxes. But they want the money up front, and then when the boxes come in, they will mail the box or the customer can pick it up.

After the coupon, Radio Shack's box is $19.95 plus tax and Wal-Mart's is $9.95 plus tax.

According to management at Best Buy on Woodruff Road, Burnett is not the only one having trouble.

"Because people know that they're in short supply, they've been around town," said Best Buy Home Theater Supervisor Casey Tompkins. "No one in the area has them right now."

He said that's because manufacturers haven't been keeping up with demand.

Anyone who wants to buy a digital converter box at a store has two options: hope they get lucky by walking in right after a shipment comes or backorder one at Radio Shack for a little more money.

Anyone who doesn't want to go through the trouble of going to a store to get a box can order one online. It may take a couple weeks to come in, but customers can use their coupon and have the box delivered to their door.

As long as the order is placed before the coupon is expired, the offer is valid.

The shortage is no fault of the retailers. Tompkins said that companies that produce the converter boxes didn't foresee how high demand would be.

Tompkins said give it about a month and production of the boxes should catch up to demand.