Never Mind, Part II ...

So the digital transition will happen on February 17th ... or maybe it will happen on June 12 ... or maybe it will live ad infinitum as a political football with Democrats, Republicans, broadcasters, consumer groups and the like continuing to rehash the already rehashed until maybe the internet completely replaces television anyway at which point no one will really care.

Who knows? As of this past weekend a Democratic bid (courtesy of Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-Va.) to delay the transition was introduced, blocked by Republicans, promised for reintroduction by the Democrats and on it goes.

So what do the businesses in the midst of the multiplatform melee think about it all? Well I got dozens of emails on last week's SkyBOX on the transition and most of them promoted the idea that, really, people are not so dumb that the state needs to coddle them into an endlessly buffered "transition." If their TVs go dark, THEY WILL FIGURE IT OUT!

Hooray for a touch of self-reliance! And if the coupons run out and folks need a financial hand to make the transition, why don't the broadcasters (who are, after all, beneficiaries Nos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of the great switcheroo) boost their shopworn "public-interest" claims by actually helping these folks out.

Well, okay ... even SkyBOX is allowed to dream.