Turn on or turn off: on December 1, Japanese terrestrial broadcasters will begin digital transmission. What lies ahead for an industry concerned with a move that could mean going digital at all cost? But broadcasters are prepared and hoping for the best.(country focus)

Japan's Goliath public broadcaster NHK and five Tokyo-based commercial networks have fine-tuned their operations to launch the nation's first digital terrestrial transmission on December 1, 2003, after years of technological, marketing as well as programming trials and billions of dollars in investment. The Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (PMHAPT Ministry) has declared that existing analogue transmission will be terminated en masse in 2011.

And yet, the common sentiment among all broadcasters is "anything could happen once the ...