Rural DTV - surprising

[Roger Kirk]

Dan.Strassberg wrote:
> Haven't you noticed that the first part of the DTV program to
> disappear is almost always the audio? This is a symption of a flawed
> design--not in your set but in the basic design of the system. Losing
> the picture is almost never as serious as losing the sound because the
> sound contains more of the information that you need to follow the
> program. The sound needs to be more robust, even if making it so would
> somewhat degrade the reliability of the picture. I'm convinced that
> the geniuses who designed the system figured that over-the-air
> reception was unimportnat because everybody would have cable or
> satellite TV. Sorry, but I refuse to spend the $1000/year on cable.
Not surprising to me.  What's the major selling point that will grab the 
average consumer?  HD!
I haven't heard a word in commercials about how much better the sound 
will be with Digital TV. 
Only how much better the picture will be.