This is true, now should it be that backwards compatability is always the goal?

It often means that you need to use a hack to get it to work, and nothing is ideal.  We effectiveily now get channels from 7 to 51 or 44 channels, when we once had channels from 2 to 79 or 78 descrete channels.   Although there are sub-channels, it's unlikely they will be used very much.  I find it interesting that CBC doesn't move to 5-1 for CBLT and 5-2 for CBLFT.  Would save a transmitter.

Should they instead have looked for another frequency block, the idea being that  tre frequency width of a channel would be dependant on how much is needed, not how much was used in the old analog system.    It would be more painful during the switchover when you effectively need 3 antennas one for VHF, one for analog UHF and one for the new frequency range. I would think the ideal would be 100 channels, with channel numbers running from 100 to 199. 

As I said in another message though, I think this is all temporary, in that 10 years from now, your TV will simply be another network device.