After several delays, fits and starts, the US has finally left the age of analog TV behind today.   One by one, stations across the nation shut down their analog transmitters and have resumed broadcasting in DTV only.  this was supposed to happen much sooner in the year, but the transtition was stalled several times, upon fears that millions of Americans were (and may still be) unprepared for the switchover.

Whether these households are prepared now or not, newer media has certainly marked the passage of their predecessor.  YouTube is officially spotlighting classic television shows today.  And its users are unofficially marking the death of analog TV by recording and posting the final signoffs of various TV stations’ analog transmitters, including many stations the did the switchover early and spent time in their final analog moments with a retrospective:

Other shutdowns were done with less fanfare.

So long, Analog.  While we move to better broadcast formats, there’s a certain something about test patterns, signoff messages and even snow on our TV sets that holds a place in the hearts of those of us who grew up with them.