Never Mind ....

Cue Emily Litella ... After a decade or so of planning, several billion dollars, a few NASCAR crashes and a hullabaloo of breast beating by self-appointed research "gurus" seeking to sell their data, the government has whispered the words we've all been expecting to hear ... "Never mind."

Seems the NTIA is afraid that it might not have enough dough to meet the heady needs of the nation's digital TV transition. The agency says it's short of coupons to help U.S. households pay for the converter boxes needed to make sure their untethered analog TVs can receive digital signals. Never mind if that's true (who knows? the "expert" reports are all over the place) this news has spooked some government types (including Obama's crew ... sigh) into suggesting that the Feb. 17th date of the big trans be pushed back by ... three months? six? forever?

Makes me think of the late Gilda Radner in granny glasses and a gray wig cackling her trademark "Never mind" after yet another hilariously misinformed SNL newscast by the fictional Miss Litella.

Now suppose the transition does get, well, transitioned sometime into the future. That's bad news for the cable guys. With each transitioned household, they see potential new subs who might be willing to pay for those "free" signals. For cable the loss, or even the delay, of these subs is kind of like a bloody glove thrown on top of an already teetering carriage. Like all of us, the wired ones are struggling with the legacy of George Bush's eight years of unfettered greed. They're also dealing with an expected slow down in new subs for high-speed internet (a real shame given the nation's dismal standing in broadband adoption), increased competition and an arguably inferior video product.

Makes Chase Carey's gloating about DIRECTV's "great momentum" at last week's Citigroup conference sound plausible if not downright likely.