If you woke up this morning, turned on the tube and had no signal, it's probably not the best time to tell you that the digital TV transition -- as troubled as it has been -- is a good idea. Maybe not immediately, especially for the 2.6 percent of Twin Cities households Nielsen estimates were "completely unprepared" for last night's midnight switch. And probably not for exurban or rural residents who conscientiously connected converter boxes, subscribed to satellite or cable, or bought new digital TVs, and still have signal problems.
But eventually the connectivity kinks will be worked out, and the DTV transition will be worth it, with benefits for taxpayers, first responders, cell phone and PDA users and, if broadcasters uphold their end of the bargain, viewers.
Why switch? "It's almost inevitable," explained Federal Communications Commission (FCC) spokesman Mark Wigfield. "Everything else has gone digital, and television was the outlier. So it's a natural progression into a more efficient technology that creates higher quality and more efficient use of a scarce resource, which is spectrum."
The "natural progression" has had unnatural bumps, including a bungled converter box coupon program that hit its funding ceiling far sooner than expected. That was one of the factors that prompted the delay from the original February conversion date. The delay, derided by some as yet another example of "nanny state" hand holding, was wise. With more time to prepare, the number of homes considered "completely unready" was cut from 5.8 million to 2.8 million. And it really helped those most vulnerable to losing a TV signal, who also happen to be among the most vulnerable in society and use TV as their main media mode of connecting with their communities.
Using the frequency more efficiently has already started to pay off. The government has received $19 billion by auctioning broadcast spectrum to the private sector, according to the FCC. Much of the freed-up spectrum will be used to accelerate communications tools with wireless applications such as cell phones and PDAs. And with research firm Gartner Inc. predicting a 25 percent rise in spending for the communications cornucopia of Apples, Palms, BlackBerrys and other smart phones, this remains a robust sector of the economy at a time when nearly every other category is in decline.
Even more important, some of the spectrum space will be reserved for first responders so that they can more immediately and effectively communicate during emergencies. This was one of the key recommendations of the 9/11 Commission after it was discovered that interagency communication problems may have increased the tragic toll of heroic firefighters.
In the long run, the value of DTV will depend to a great extent on what broadcasters do with their additional digital channels. Using the public's airwaves requires a license renewal, which depends on a station meeting the FCC standards of "public interest, convenience and necessity." Many stations struggle to hew to these requirements with even one channel, let alone four. While the existing FCC guidelines won't officially apply to the new digital channels, stations should use them to better serve the public. Indeed, this could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experiment with new news and information formats. For broadcasters that crack the code, ratings and revenue will follow.
The DTV transition hasn't been easy, and for some today may be an especially difficult day of transition. But if DTV fulfills its promise over time, the startup glitches will be easily forgotten.
