Best Buy Sells Its Last Analog TV Set

Best Buy announced today that it has pulled all remaining analog television products from store shelves and will henceforth only sell digital tuners. The company is the first consumer electronics retailer to publicly announce its departure from the analog television business.

Congress has mandated that the FCC re-claim the wireless spectrum used for analog TV by January 2009. The spectrum is being auctioned early next year, with Verizon and Google among the interested bidders. Consumers will soon begin seeing ads on TV announcing the impending transition to digital.

"We are committed to helping people understand the digital television transition, and exiting the analog video business is one way we can help avoid confusion," said senior vice president of electronics for Best Buy, Mike Vitelli.

"Customers can now be sure that any television they purchase at Best Buy will be fully compliant with the digital television transition. And for customers who aren't in the market for a new television, we can help you find the best solution to meet your needs."

While this is somewhat of an early withdrawal of analog TV sets from sale, now that the nation's largest consumer electronics retailer has pulled the products, others are likely to soon follow suit.