US Analog Shutdown Riskier Than Most

The US has planned for more than a decade to have TV broadcasters turn off their analog signals, yet when the Feb. 17 deadline loomed, it flinched, delaying the mandatory shutdown for four months. The delay, which causes confusion for TV viewers and havoc for broadcasters, is a symptom of the unique way the US conceived the shutdown: No other big country has dared to, or plans to, end its analog TV broadcasts all in one go. All developed countries are looking at turning off their analog TV signals because of the obvious benefits. Going digital improves the quality of TV reception and frees up large swaths of the airwaves for other services like wireless data. But other countries are being more cautious about moving into the digital age. Austria, which is the size of South Carolina, turned off its analog signals over seven months in 2007, moving area by area from west to east. Germany, slightly smaller than Montana, shut down area by area over five years. To find countries that turned off their signals all in one go, as the U.S. essentially was about to do Feb. 17, you'd have to go to countries like the Netherlands, about the size of Maryland, and Luxembourg, which is smaller than Rhode Island. Those countries aren't just small - they also have very few households that watch over-the-air TV broadcasts.