It's official: all full-power television stations in the United States have made the switch from analog to digital broadcasting. The last 971 did the jump on Friday in 195 markets. Federal Communications Commission Chair Michael Copps was characteristically circumspect about the final move, warning of a "period of adjustment as we all figure out how to make this new technology work in the real world.

"We all need a bit of patience and perseverance in the days ahead," he told the press on Friday. "This is a momentous change and it will take time to get it right." The FCC reports that well over 300,000 people called the agency's help-line (1-888-CALL-FCC) on June 12, almost 700,000 in the last work week. About a third of callers requested help with their digital converter set-top boxes. Many just needed to be reminded to rescan their signal area with the box.

#1 large country

How did the nation do overall? Quite well by most accounts, with many procrastinators finally getting their act together over the weekend. On the other hand, reports across the country indicate that elderly people need hands-on help with antenna problems, and some consumers have lost stations, possibly because of changes in the contours of new digital signals. It's going to take more time to assess the situation in areas with high percentages of unprepared households.

In any event, the National Association of Broadcasters has declared victory. "America is the first large country in the world to complete the transition to all-digital broadcasting, and our early reports show that the transition has been a success," announced NAB Vice President Jonathan Collegio on Saturday.

So when are other countries getting the job done? Notwithstanding their size, many already have, including Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and the Netherlands. Italy, France, Spain, and Portugal should finish the task over the next two to three years. Most that haven't completed the job are doing so gradually.

For example:

Japan began the transition in Tokyo in 2003 and plans to complete it by 2011. Branding has been a bit of a problem over there. Japan's DTV alert commercials featured pop star Tsuyoshi Kusanagi—that is until he was arrested in April for frolicking around a park, stark naked and drunk. Since then, Japan's DTV PR department has come up with Chidejeka, a DTV deer deity whose PSAs explain the transition to the kids.

The United Kingdom has a pretty nifty DTV logo too. The British are phasing their "digital switchover" from this year through 2012. Various regions are making the switch at different times. Scotland will do it next year. Yorkshire, will follow in 2011. London will conclude the transition in 2012.

Australia plans to complete the transition by the end of 2013. And as with the UK, Australians plan to employ a phased approach beginning in 2010 and concluding with its big cities—Sydney and Melbourne—in 2013.

Canada's analog cutoff deadline is August 31, 2011. But the country is affected by the US switch because some Canadians pick up TV signals from the United States. In those instances they needed to make adjustments if their sets were analog-only.

Other countries have extended their schedule well into the future. Russia plans to phase DTV in through 2015, starting with its southeastern border and gradually moving west. Mexico has stretched its DTV rollout through December 31, 2021, dividing the task into six periods, and transitioning regions depending on their population size. Doubtless Mexicans at the US border also had to make adjustments if they tuned their analog sets into US stations.

So the United States is unique in being the first "large country" to complete the switch. It also stands out as having pulled the analog plug over a relatively short period of time, from February 17 through Friday, June 12.

But the question we're asking right now is how come we never got a cute DTV logo character like the UK and Japan?

Further reading