The Digital Television Switch Might Get Messy: Duh

Batten down the hatches and take cover people, things are about to get "messy." Members of the FCC are preparing for digital warfare in the digital television broadcasting world and again there are more concerns about the digital television switch set to transpire on February 17 of next year. During sweeps? Noooooo! I need my Must See TV.



According to a Nielson ratings report more than 9 million households are still completely unprepared for the digital switch and if we were to cut the analog signal today 12.6 million households would have at least one television go black. And most of them aren't even used to watch broadcast TV. They are hooked up to DVD players and video game consoles. And still, all of those unprepared people and TVs still add up to less than 9% of the television watching United States mostly made up of lower income workers and senior citizens. Here's the irony: It's the same people that don't have access to this blog or the official DTV website explaining that this isn't the end of the world.

FCC member Robert McDowell claims the broadcasters themselves, ABC, CBS, NBC and so on, have the most to lose if people don't fully comprehend what the digital switch really means. And they should take it upon themselves to educate the masses. (Yeah, right, the networks are already tired of spending money on this.)

So, why are the government and Congress getting into the broadcasting business you might ask? When television goes digital all those empty analog signals will be reallocated (auctioned off) for other purposes like emergency services, police and fire, internet and phone. Or so they say. With the current economic pressure and big businesses taking advantage of the system left and right I'll believe the goodwill story when I see it.

The FCC is also not naive enough to think this thing would go off without a hitch, and yes things will get messy, but frankly, it's about time we did this. Dozens of countries around the world are already on a digital system and although they are working out the kinks the earth didn't stop spinning on its axis when an episode of The Office was missed. Besides, you can probably watch it on the internet. It'll be hooked up to your television soon enough.

Don't worry, get your converter box coupon. It'll be fine.

The only thing I really regret in the digital switch is future generations will never fully understand the movie Poltergeist and the disturbing nature of television snow.

If you're looking for fully-digital TVs, we've got plenty of LCD TV reviews. Or you can also look at some other completely digital blog posts:

HP Gets Touchy-Feely

Mufin Makes You a Mashup Artist, But Not Necessarily a Music Connoisseur

FTC Busts Worldwide Spam Network, Spam Mafia Mourns

Motorola Unveils the Krave, Dreams of Better Days

Samsung Netbook Coming to America