/also, when are you Brits going to drop those extra U's, anyhow? smiley-wink
Now look who is looking to start an argument.
there was no real reason to force a switch that would have occurred over time naturally,
Well without analogue switch off there was no space to squeeze more than 6 multiplexes in the terrestrial spectrum at least in the UK. Even so the DTT signals were transmitted at one millionth of the power of the analogue video signal to prevent interference. Analogue switch off is not yet completed in the UK but when it is the spectrum will be freed up for better DTT reception by allowing more transmitting power and more roaming internet access.
In the UK we had an old 405 line TV system, this was only turned off about 20 years after it became technically superseded. That sort of time scale is too slow to make any real use of the advantages that digital TV would bring.
Yes I admit there were commercial considerations as well but what I think helped swing it was me explaining to a group of MPs that they could have a whole full size screen Parliament channel when we turned off the analogue signal.