5. Focusing on DTV
Although the transition to digital television (DTV) has taken longer than expected, the next generation of television is rapidly approaching, and with it will come new capacity--at least five times that of analog channels--along with the specter of new high-definition extravaganzas. Some of this new capacity could be devoted to independent and alternative voices, although it remains to be seen whether local stations (particularly PBS affiliates and other noncommercial broadcasters) will actually share their new digital largesse with their communities. Plans are already underway for new public interest obligations for digital broadcasters (primarily involving election coverage and other public affairs programming), but this vision needs to be made much more expansive, embracing the educational and cultural programming--including local productions--that is conspicuously absent in today's TV landscape. PBS has outlined its plans for the digital future with ambitious new streams of programming, but it's up to "viewers like us" to demand that local PBS affiliates leave room for community participation in their expanded digital broadcast schedules.