SKIRMISHER

In the Netherlands, “free to air” analog TV transmission is now dead. On December 11, the Dutch pulled the plug on analog transmission to shift completely to “digital terrestrial,” making it the first country to do so.

The Dutch switch to “digital terrestrial” television is a minor milestone. Analog television was introduced in the Netherlands in 1951.

Governments around the world are gradually making the switch to digital, with some Scandinavian countries and Belgium targeting a 2007 switch-off date. The target is 2009 in the United States, and 2011 in Japan.

Last year, it was estimated that 21 million U.S. households do not get cable or satellite service and rely solely on free over-the-air TV. Consumers Union estimated an additional 20 million homes that have cable or satellite do not have all of their TV sets hooked up to the service and would need converter boxes, too.

In completely unrelated news…large parts of the world don’t even have TV.

via SLASHDOT

Stumble it!