600 American TV stations have gone dark. No one cares. On Wednesday, Feb. 18, hundreds of US TV stations turned off their analog signals. Scarcely a soul noticed. The event – one that policy makers have quivered in fear of for 23 years – was a yawn. When, in 1986, cell-phone makers and public safety agencies asked the Federal Communications Commission for a shot at using scores of idle TV channels, politically powerful TV stations quashed the idea. They hurriedly hatched a reason: extra frequencies had to be reserved for “advanced television.” America, then reeling from Japan’s emergence as a consumer electronics powerhouse, needed to develop its own cool video application and dominate the world. Full article available at FT.com. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/51d7ce52-052b-11de-8166-000077b07658.html.  Also available, a PDF Download on Prof. Hazlett’s faculty profile.

Related posts: