Greetings. To the surprise of no one who has been following this issue, concerns are rising at the FCC and Congress about the 51% of Americans who still don't realize that analog TV signals are scheduled to be shut down a year from next February. That's some 70 million television sets. Even more people who may have heard probably don't understand the implications. Many think that digital TV just means "fancy" hi-def screens that they're not interested in buying.

There are vast numbers of analog televisions still dependent on over the air signals from rooftop or set-top antennas, sometimes primary sets, sometimes secondary units in homes or other locations. Analog sets are still being sold in stores and by mail order with no warning of the drop dead date rapidly approaching. I have yet to see one of the fabled "inexpensive" digital set-top converter boxes that would allow off-air analog TV users to continue receiving signals.

Even worse, in the absence of an intensive and coordinated on-air and direct mail information campaign, the very demographics that tend to be the most dependent on these analog sets are the most difficult to reach, especially the elderly.

Most of the time (with some significant exceptions) digital TV signals are far superior to analog (where I am, the difference between snowbound channel 2 and KCBS-DT on 2-1 is remarkable, though my analog 56 looks good while the digital version tends to show annoying macroblock artifacts frequently).

The federal government is desperate to get the analog TV signals turned off so that those airwaves will be freed up -- that's what all these spectrum auction controversies are about.

But unless there's a massive change in the current abysmal information campaign, and maybe even in the face of such a change at this late date, we could be looking at something of an analog TV viewers' revolt come early 2009, and the politicians know that they are the ones who are going to get blamed.

Which leads us to an interesting question. Do you believe that U.S. analog television signals will really be terminated on the currently scheduled date, or would you bet that more extensions will ultimately be granted, as the politicos start to panic over the ineptitude of the transition campaign so far?

Let me know what you think. Thanks.

--Lauren--
lauren@vortex.com