Ready for digital TV?

There are so many things I could say about the response to my last blog, but I’ll save it for later. Just one thing, though — I was not inaccurate. I’m quite careful about facts. They may be limiting themselves to TARP corporations now, but administration officials and congressional Democrats said Thursday that companies across the private sector need to adjust compensation. “Say on pay” laws, independent compensation commissions, beefed-up Federal Reserve and SEC powers over compensation — all add up to removing executive pay from market forces.
But enough about that for awhile. Let’s talk about tomorrow’s big switch for television viewers.

The other day, as I downloaded the Sweden vs. Denmark soccer game, transferred it to a VCD and watched it on my television, all without much effort, I began to wonder how many other people were doing similar things. How many use hulu.com, go directly to network Web sites, download movies or watch news over the computer?
Then I started to wonder — does over-the-air TV really mean much any more?
I’ll admit, I’m one of the few who doesn’t subscribe to a cable or satellite service at home. I keep cable news on in the background at work most of the day, but at night I watch what I want to watch, and I check news Web sites for important events before going to bed.
Sports? I love baseball, so I bought the package available on mlb.com and can watch every game all year long in great digital video on my computer. If I miss a game, I can pull it out of the archives.
My kids, especially my young-adult married ones, don’t watch much traditional TV, either. Their media time is spent on computers, and they tell me their friends do the same.
Just as many young people do not bother with land-line telephones, they seem to be choosing the Internet over traditional television.
Granted, this is anecdotal stuff. But I have been reading a lot lately about declining TV ad revenues and viewership (which are similar to drops in both for newspapers).
The Wall Street Journal says as many as 2.8 million Americans will be totally without TV reception after Friday. (Read it here.) But I think the real story is that we’re in a transition period that will forever change home entertainment and the flow of information.
Yes, I do have a digital converter box, although I can’t pull in as many digital channels as I could analog channels. But what about you? Are your viewing habits changing? Do you use the Internet more to get the programming you want? Is Friday’s switch going to be a major disruption?