I just heard the FTC has issued a 2009 date for the switch to digital tv. But a senate spokesperson said 2015 will be a more realistic target. They want 85% of the country to have a digital tv before analog goes dark. Right now its at 12%. We will all be old men before they finally switch! Why in the world dont they stop making analog tv's and force the public to switch. The guy at best buy tells me all the time people come in for a big screen digital tv, see the prices, and leave with a new analog set. I guess its going to be a long long wait.

There's been a lot of scrabbling back and forth lately (although you could probably define "lately" as "over the last ten years," come to think of it) on this topic. Ultimate AV alone has run at least three articles or new items on the subject just in the last few months. The goal is to have 85% of the country served with a digital signal, but when counting cable subscribers, satellite subscribers, and over-the-air DTV receiver owners the current penetration is very close to the 85% mark. There is some debate over how many sets still rely on over-the-air analog signals, with the lowest number (12%) coming from the consumer electronics industry and the higher number (closer to 19%) coming from the National Association of Broadcasters. The switch is inevitable, and the government's desire to make the switch so they can sell off at least some of the analog bandwidth (if not all of it - Senator McCain's proposal would keep some of it for emergency services) will at some point be enough to help push a real date through all the various channels.