A Darwin Moment: Television Goes Digital June 12th

Today is a big day in broadcasting history. There is a monumental change coming down the pike several years in the making. Unless you’ve been incarcerated at Guantanamo, you probably already know: Television is going digital.

The reason for the changeover is that the FCC already has tenants waiting to move into the bandwidth that will be created by the changeover. Cellphone companies have already bought leases on those frequencies, and the FCC raised 19 billion dollars auctioning off that bandwidth (and probably spent every single dime of it on TV ads and converter-box coupons.)

Strange that Americans have been able to pick up on HDTV without coupons or awareness campaigns. Millions of people have educated themselves on HDMI cable, anamorphic output and Blue Ray discs with little or no money from the government. Those who couldn’t figure it out created a market for professional tech support companies like the Geek Squad.

Is it really possible that there is anybody left in America that doesn’t know about it? Congress sure thought so. On February 4th of this year they passed an emergency extension, and a $650 million dollar funding supplement to allow the program to continue. (more…)