Well, it's probably a bit more politically possible in an era where one labor union -- I mean two auto companies -- are wards of the state. Not that it's a good idea, nor likely to help the poor or people unconnected to cable. And, there are a very few broadcasters that have actually acquired their spectrum at auction. There is a way to do HDTV and still pack multiple stations into a transport stream, but I don't think it's a good idea to tell the feds how to accomplish this; it only requires every television set and dtv converter box to be swapped out.

Collen Brown knows the meaning of the words, "public interest, convenience and necessity." I asked in this space a few days ago, where are the Willam S. Paleys of today? Ms. Brown has supplied the answer. Thank you for reminding your fellow broadcast executives of the sacred trust upon which this business was founded. Now how about urging broadcasters to actually promote the unique benefits of their product -- such as less compressed, totally free HDTV, new digichannels, local news and public affairs programming (which cable once promised and sometimes delivered but has largely abandoned), and availability during localized power outages? The real problem is this: Broadcasters do not compete with cable/satellite/broadband because the big players are in all of these businesses. So there is no real competition. The real solution: The government, FCC, FTC and Justice, should break up these telecom conglomerates to create real marketplace competition, along the lines of the original Ma Bell divestiture order. A good first step: send a clear signal by blocking the pending sale of NBC to Comcast on antitrust grounds. Yes, Ms. Brown is right: the airwaves still belong to the public, and some of us believe in defending the public interest while preserving the ability to profit by serving the public interest. http://www.nowpublic.com/world/digital-tv-switch-opens-electronic-door-censors-and-spies

Kudos to Colleen for keeping it real. The real issue is service, and this infrastructure that the braodcast spectrum represents, is vital to the public interest and should not be auctioned off to pour dollars into the the government cauffers and handed over to wireless broadband. There are many other options for creating a wireless broadband service, including models built on the celluar infrastructure. The telcos are chomping at the bit to compete with broadcasters in providing TV and Audio content, Until broadcasters can offer telephone service, we need to protect this spectrum.