The most recent info I have seen says spring of 2009 is the end of analog. Big TVs need to include a digital tuner now, small sets, I dont know the timeline. I'm not sure there is one for small sets yet. It seems they can't decide on anything easily. There are some in congress pushing to have analog shut off by the end of this year. IMHO, it ain't gonna happen.
TVTechnology.com is an interesting place to read about the newest in TV. It's intended for the broadcast side of the industry, but contains tons of information.
As for CRTs, I think they are going away. I recently read where Sony is shutting down most of its CRT manufacturing. I guess they went into partnership with Samsung building flat panels.
Mitsubishi quit making CRTs years ago. I think Panasonic pulled the plug on CRTs last year. I figure tubes will hang on for maybe 10 years, but mostly for low-end stuff. especially near the end. After that, it'll be up to us to keep the memory of the CRT alive.
We'll be able to amaze youngsters with the magic of the big glass funnel that makes pictures, just like we do with rabbit ears now. "How'd you get a picture?! You didn't even hook up the cable!!!" (I love doing that. Confuses the hell out of them)
