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- Volume 1, Issue 1, 2010
International Journal of Digital Television - Volume 1, Issue 1, 2010
Volume 1, Issue 1, 2010
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The Transition to Digital Television in the United States: The Endgame
More LessThe switching off of analogue television on 12 June 2009 and the delays that led up to it are the focus of the analysis here. All digital transitions are difficult but the US transition was successful in the end, in spite of a number of decisions and policies that made life confusing and overly complicated at one time or another for all concerned. The decision to delay the analogue switch off from 17 February to 12 June 2009 was one of the first initiatives undertaken by the newly elected Obama administration. The delay was necessary because of the under-funding of a programme to provide coupons for analogue-digital converter boxes to those still dependent on over-the-air broadcasts.
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Not the Apocalypse: Television Futures in the Digital Age
Authors: Jinna Tay and Graeme TurnerThis article begins by challenging what we describe as a developing analytical orthodoxy around the development of digital television, an orthodoxy which produces a story about the end of television. We argue that the social practice of television is far from over, and that it is changing in ways which reflect continuities with past practices as well as the effects of emerging economic, technological and cultural formations of production and use. The article draws upon our research into some Asian television markets (part of a collaborative international research project on post-broadcast television) in order to highlight the contingency of these changes and thus the importance of a highly nuanced, locally grounded, and culturally informed analysis of what is becoming of television in the digital age. The article also draws attention to the current difficulties confronting such comparative analysis, in that we lack a common, simple and comprehensive means of measuring, benchmarking and mapping the various formations of what we still call television around the globe.
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Would the Real Freeview Please Stand Up?
Authors: Jock Given and Paul NorrisFreeview is the survival strategy for free-to-view TV in the digital age in the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. It is mix of marketing, services and technology, and of defensive and offensive elements. The mix is different in different places:
In the UK, where the concept was launched in 2002, digital terrestrial television (DTT) became Freeview, now the most popular form of digital TV. Freeview represented a fresh strategy to relaunch DTT after the failure of the first model.
In New Zealand, where DTT started in 2008, DTT is Freeview, but Freeview was a satellite service first, appealing mainly to those with poor analogue reception. The concept was imported from the UK as the proven way to make DTT work, and deployed from the outset by broadcasters with government backing.
In Australia, as this article was finalized in August 2009, Freeview is still mainly a marketing campaign rather than a TV service. Broadcasters have not deployed it enthusiastically to launch the medium, but reluctantly, many years on, as part of the government-mandated push to digital switchover.
This article explores the origins and development of these three Freeviews. It provides an unusual case study of a related, though different, set of products marketed under the same name in different countries. It also speculates about their future as television morphs into new shapes, especially encouraged by the growth of high definition, hard-drive-recording and broadband-connected receivers. Identifying both similarities and differences across the three Freeviews, the authors conclude that although Freeview is helping to make it possible to switch off analogue services and free up spectrum for other purposes in all three countries, the national differences defy reduction to a single definition. Freeview, like television itself, is different in these different places and is changing over time.
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White Spaces the New Wi-Fi?
More LessThis article is an introduction to a major spectrum opportunity that is now catching the eye of regulators, worldwide, as they seek capacity for more ubiquitous and affordable broadband Internet access.
At a time when the demand for spectrum has never been greater, white spaces in television broadcast spectrum are a prime, largely unused, resource. Wireless technologies have advanced rapidly over the last decade, to the point where the technical capabilities to harness white spaces now exist. The missing piece of the jigsaw has been a regulatory framework that would allow the new applications to share the UHF bands with the broadcast television and supporting services. However, spectrum regulators are now laying the foundations for this, with the United States (FCC) and the United Kingdom (Ofcom) leading the way.
The most pressing potential application of white spaces is the extension of broadband Internet access. Broadcasters may benefit from this, as the popularity of interactive services grows.
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Preparations for Digital Switchover in Japan: An Update
By Norio KumabeNow that Germany and the USA have switched over to digital terrestrial television (DTT), Japan is one of the countries with a large number of television households that are preparing for digital switchover in two to three years. It is planning to switchover on 24 July 2011, in less than two years. The Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) has accelerated preparations since 2008. This is a brief report on the present situation concerning digital switchover in Japan.
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China's Digital Switchover: International Context
More LessThis short article introduces the subject of digital switchover in China to readers from other countries, providing some context and highlighting some of the distinctive characteristics of the Chinese transition, to complement the two following articles, submitted as a pair, by academics from the Communication University of China.
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The Positioning and Current Situation of China's Digital TV
By Zhou YanDigital television research and development started in China in the 1980s. Implementation has been underway over the last decade and the digitalization of the three platforms (cable, terrestrial and satellite) is in progress. Focusing on the strategic positioning of these three digital TV platforms, this article outlines the current situation, including take-up, coverage, service pattern, government support, and the main techniques and then expounds the two problems confronting digital TV in China.
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A Description of China's Digital Cable TV Services
By Wang WeiOver one third of China's cable households have now been converted to digital TV. Most are served by a one-way network but a growing number have two-way interactive systems and China's goal is two-way interactivity and a full service. This article will introduce some widely operated and typical services of China's advanced digital cable systems and their business models. There are five service types: digital TV broadcasting; personalized viewing services; information service; interactive value-added service and telecommunications service. Their business models can be divided into subscription fees and advertising rates. Then the author will discuss development trends.
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YouTube Online Video and Participatory Culture, Jean Burgess and Joshua Green, with Contributions by Henry Jenkins and John Hartley (2009)
More LessYouTube Online Video and Participatory Culture, JEAN BURGESS AND JOSHUA GREEN, WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY HENRY JENKINS AND JOHN HARTLEY (2009) Digital Media and Society Series, UK and USA: Polity Press, 140 pp., ISBN 9780745644783, Hardback, 45.00
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Digital Television in Europe, edited by Wendy van den Broeck and Jo Pierson (2008)
More LessDigital Television in Europe, EDITED BY WENDY VAN DEN BROECK AND JO PIERSON (2008) VUBPRESS, 244 pp., ISBN 978 90 5487 541 3, Paperback, 19.95
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Media and Communication Technologies, A Critical Introduction, Stephen Lax (2009)
More LessMedia and Communication Technologies, A Critical Introduction, STEPHEN LAX (2009) Palgrave MacMillan, Basingstoke, 234 pp., ISBN-13 978-1-4039-9890-3, Paperback (also available in hardback), 18.99
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