OTA Surround Sound?

[nightflier]

I just purchased a new TV with built-in HDTV tuner and will be connecting the input to an OTA antenna. In the past, with my old TV, I used an outboard tuner that only did stereo. So this brings up a few questions:

1. Is most HDTV programming in surround sound? If not, is this even worth the trouble? Will it be in the future?

If it's only Pro-Logic or some other matrixed format, then I could just as well let my pre/pro do the matrixing. If on the other hand it's decent DD 5.1, then it might be worth it. To get sound out of the TV, my only option is RCA-stereo or optical. So to get surround, I'll need to use the optical, but that brings up other questions:

2. How far can I go with an optical cable? My TV is about 30' from my receiver, so that's not your average optical cable.

3. Since optical cables are fragile, I'll need an extra stiff one. Any recommendations?

4. Is this how most people are doing this? I'm just wondering, since this seems a little weird to me.