The latest attempt to take something away from us...

I don't have cable tv here, or dish, we don't watch tv enough to justify it as an expense, I still have my rabbit ear antenna that we use to watch the news and the few televison shows we do watch. The picture comes in clear, though from time to time when you change channels you have adjust the little dial. However, in two years it appears none of us will be able to have access to the public airwaves anymore. I heard this was coming but in reading the Hill today I discovered:

Congress decreed the 2009 drop-dead date in order to speed the transition to digital television. The goal of the legislation, which passed in 2005, is partly to free up spectrum that the federal government can auction to other technologies, although much of that spectrum will be handed back to broadcasters.

Roughly 19.6 million households receive only free, over-the-air television and 34 million have at least an analog television. If those viewers don’t buy a converter box to facilitate the reception of digital signals, purchase a new TV or switch to cable or satellite, their televisions will go dark when the deadline passes.

The National Telecom and Information Administration plans to dole out up to $1.5 billion in $40 coupons for the converter boxes, and has set aside $5 million to publicize the program.

It seems pretty clear that the days of receiving over the air television is done further creating a situation where to get even basic local news and information it's going to be only by radio, well, until that goes all satellite too...