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- Volume 4, Issue 1, 2013
International Journal of Digital Television - Volume 4, Issue 1, 2013
Volume 4, Issue 1, 2013
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Digital television in Iitaly: From analogue to digital duopoly?
Authors: Benedetta Brevini and Francesca FanucciThis study aims at unveiling the difficult transition to digital terrestrial television (DTT) in Italy. After sketching the theoretical framework, the article focuses on how the Italian government, communications regulatory authority AGCOM and the European Commission (EC) have shaped the current digital framework in Italy. The findings indicate that Italian DTT policies are deeply rooted within their national context and that Italian policy-makers failed to secure a solution to the abiding lack of pluralism of the Italian broadcasting market. During the transitory period, the Digital Broadcasting Act of 2001 gave the two main broadcasters – RAI and Mediaset – an unfair advantage in experimenting digital terrestrial transmissions as well as trading for frequencies and installations. Likewise, the more recent new final National Plan for the allocation of frequencies does not seem to guarantee a plurality of operators in the new digital market.
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The progress to digital in New Zealand
By Paul NorrisNew Zealand began the transition to digital television relatively late compared to other developed countries. When the policy framework was established in 2006, it centred on a Freeview model, as a counter to the pay TV platform that had been digital since 1998, achieving considerable penetration in that time. This article will examine the progress of the transition from 2006 to analogue switch-off (ASO) that began in 2012 and is to be completed by the end of 2013. It will note the light-handed nature of regulation and government policy, the impact of a change of government, the ultimate failure of an attempt at a multi-channel strategy and the reduction of public broadcasting.
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Digital terrestrial television policies in Mexico: The telecom wars
Authors: Rodrigo Gómez García and Gabriel Sosa PlataThis article analyses and discusses Mexican public policies regarding the transition from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT). We aim to show how digitization, in the Mexican context, can be thought of as an opportunity to change the duopolistic structure in television in order to obtain higher quality and greater content diversity. The methodology used here consists of a structural historical analysis of communication policies with an emphasis on digital switchover, paying special attention to the social power relations that have led to the current structural conditions of the concentrated Mexican communications system. Overall, preliminary results obtained in this research show a lack of clarity in DTT policies of the last two administrations (Vicente Fox 2000–2006 and Felipe Calderón 2006–2012) and a reinforced hegemony of the economically dominant broadcast and telecommunications actors: Televisa, TV Azteca and Telmex, in detriment to public service, competition, local TV stations, independent production, content quality and audiences in a broader sense.
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The BBc and digital policy instrumentation in the UK: Straitjackets and conveyor belts
More LessThis article goes beyond a conventional content-centric approach to public service broadcasting (PSB), to argue that the distinctiveness of the BBC as a public servicecommunications provider lies in its historical role in delivering public policy. Unlike commercial broadcasters, who may and often do choose to ignore economic and other incentives, the BBC is relied upon to respond to government calls for assistance in implementing key policies. Broadcasting history in the United Kingdom demonstrates the crucial involvement of the corporation in pioneering and at times even rescuing policy initiatives, ranging from the introduction of the very first broadcasts, to the on-going push towards wholesale digitalization. The particular focus of this article is on the historical role that the BBC has been playing in order for digitalization policies to be implemented in the United Kingdom. At risk to its autonomy and public support, it is in this context that the BBC may be considered indispensable.
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Television regulation after digital switchover: A personal view
By Tim SuterDigital switchover and digital convergence challenge regulators to re-examine the justifications for regulating television content. These can be grouped under three headings: access, contribution and protection. Each of these areas is challenged to respond to three key pressures: the decline of the linear schedule; the emergence of connected TV; and the emergence of new players in the business value chain. Regulators will need to refine existing approaches, develop new tools and empower audiences to take more control for themselves. Although digital television will both encompass new services and sit alongside other audio-visual services with different roots and different regulation, its specialness will continue to justify a regulatory regime that underpins its contribution and potential impact.
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Pluralism in crisis: Transformations of the spanish DTT market in the context of the recession
Authors: Isabel Fernández Aalonso and María-Jesús Díaz-GonzálezThis article discusses the most significant aspects of DTT’s evolution in Spain since the analogue switch-off in April 2010. It underscores the severe cutbacks affecting public service television broadcasters and their impact, as well as a return to government control over the Spanish Broadcasting Corporation (RTVE) in particular. It also emphasizes the major tendency towards concentration in the national private DTT market and the inviability of most regional and local broadcasters. All of these issues are analysed from the perspective of their worrying impact on pluralism.
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BOOK REVIEWS
Authors: Michael Starks and Imir RashidDIGITAL UNIVERSE: THE GLOBAL TELECOMMUNICATION REVOLUTION, PETER B. SEEL (2012) Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 276 pp., ISBN: 978-1-4051-5330-0, p/bk, £21.99 (also available in h/bk)
HIGH-DEFINITION TELEVISION: THE CREATION, DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF HDTV TECHNOLOGY, PHILIP J. CIANCI (2012) JEFFERSON, NORTH CAROLINA AND LONDON: MCFARLAND & COMPANY INC. PUBLISHERS, 373 PP., ISBN: 978-0-7864-4975-0, P/BK, £36.58 ($45.00)
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