Freeview HD services to launch next year

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/apr/03/digitaltvradio.television

The article above was published on Thursday April 03 2008. It stated that media regulator Ofcom said that, Freeview viewers in some parts of the country will be able to watch high definition TV channels as early as next year.
This shows that for the future, the UK residents should expect a better quality picture.
New technology and a reorganisation of the way channels are allocated on digital terrestrial television spectrum will free up space for four Freeview HD TV services. One of them will be reserved for the BBC with the three others open to a competitive bidding process overseen by Ofcom among the commercial public service broadcasters, including ITV, Channel 4, Channel Five and Welsh language channel S4C.
This article shows that the technology is advancing quickly. It is allowing the UK residents a better quality of viewing. This is a very promising sign for the future as there are many more possible advancements which could be made.

Eight in 10 homes have digital TV

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/sep/20/digitaltvradio.television

This article above from September 2007 shows that the preparations are taking place all over the UK; the public are getting ready before the switchover to avoid later hassle and confusion. Almost 85% of UK homes now have digital television on their main set as Freeview continues to attract converts from analogue TV. As said by Ofcom, this is up 13 percentage points over the year, the strongest 12 months' growth to date.
"More than four in five UK households are now enjoying the benefits of digital television," said Ofcom's chief executive Ed Richards.
"It's extremely encouraging that we are continuing to see the market grow strongly with less than a month until Whitehaven becomes the first place to fully switch to digital television."

The technology – chosen technology

My chosen technology is the digital TV switchover. It’s the process in which the UK’s old television broadcast signal (known as “analogue”) is being switched off and replaced with a “digital” signal. Any TV set that’s not converted to digital when the switchover takes place will no longer receive any TV programmes. Instead of the traditional five UK channels (BBC One, BBC Two, ITV, Channel 4 and Five) – or only some of them. Every TV set wanted to keep watching in your home will need to be converted or upgraded to digital.

The technology – how it is marketed

The technology is marketed nationwide. The switchover is a massive operation that will effect all residents in the UK. This means it has to be marketed into every home in the UK and must get the attention of all the residents too. The companies use adverts (TV and radio), billboards, papers, magazines and any other ways to reach all residents.

The technology – companies providing and cost

The companies that will provide digital programming for the switchover are Tiscali, Smallworld, Freeview, Virgin Media, Sky, Wight Cable, Top up TV, Freesat from Sky and BT Vision. The costs vary greatly from company to company and depending on the amount of channels the customer wants. There are one of payments as well as monthly subscriptions. The prices vary from £20 to £250.

The technology – push/pull technology

The switchover is very much a push/pull technology. The manufactures are pushing the technology out into the nation, and the public are happily pulling in the technology. There are very few down sides to this technology, so there is not much resistance on either side.

The technology – new or old media

The digital swithover is very much moving on from old media into new media. It’s a chance to improve and modernise everyday technology. Technology is getting increasingly more safisticated, quicker and smaller in every area, this swithover is an example of this. It will benefit millions of people worldwide (UK is not the only digital switchover country!) and provide a luxury to all TV owners that people with this modern age technology are able to have.

The technology – who developed it

There is no one person responsible for this switchover as is simply the result of improved technology. The view has been taken that if the technology is there to be used, then we might as well make the most of it.

The institutions involved – increased profit

At the end of this switchover, there will be a massive profit for the companies providing the digital channels. Whether it’s a one of payment of £20 for freeview or a monthly subscription of £45 for Sky, there will be a hugely increased profit as it will be a necessity in all TV homes.

The institutions involved – marketing campaigns

The marketing campaigns for the switchover are increasing more and more as increasing areas of the country start the switch. The campaigns are very much used to show the massive rewards by the switchover for the customer, as well as simplicity involved in the switch. The campaigns are also used in order to explain the dates of the switch in different regions to give the important in formation to the public in order for them to prepare themselves.
As the switchover is such a large scale event, and it affects everyone, there is a huge amount of market campaigns. Seeing that the switchover is not in fall flow yet, the marketing will increase. The switchover has just begun so people are still finding out about it.

The institutions involved – audience demands / educate users

As this technology is affecting all people of all ages across the country, the organisers have to educate users as well as set up help lines for those finding it difficult. Help is given by all forms of media, such as TV, phone lines, internet etc.

The audience experience – how is it consumed

The digital programming can be received in many ways,
Ø through an ariel (either a digital box or digital TV),
Ø a satellite dish,
Ø a cable,
Ø telephone lines,
Ø an ariel and phone line.
It simply depends on the location of the consumer to decide what option to take, for example, some location are not able to sustain cable, so they would have to use a satelite dish or an ariel.

The audience experience – who consumes

The technology is consumed by all people living in the UK who want to watch TV. This is why it is such a massive operation because it effects millions of people. It is not just the Uk however, other countries are also carrying out the digital switchover, France are expecting to be finished by 2011.

The audience experience – advantages

This form of media is a huge market, with nearly every household containing at least one TV, with many containg more. As it efects such a large amount of people, there are many advantages from the switchover that all consumers will gain. The quality and choice will improve greatly. The choice, is the channels offered to the consumers, and due to the switchover this choice will expand massively. The quality is the quality of the picture received. Due to the change in technology, from analogue to digital, it allows a better picture to be received by TV owners. The interactivity will also be improved due to the switch, the interactive button (not used on traditional tv) will be available for the consumer to use. This gives them a wider choice in what to watch, for example, the different football games.

The audience experience – disadvantages

There are disadvantages though. Such as the cost will rise, there are chances of one off payments, however this is still extra payment that is only brought on by the switchover.

The issues / debates surrounding your technology – illegal activity

The new technology does not encourage any illegal activity, as it is only really increasing the amount of TV channels received. Due to the increase of channels, it does provide better advertising abilities and amount of TV shows.

The issues / debates surrounding your technology - jobs

If anything the new technology will increase the amount of jobs, however there is little change in that area. That is because there is no change in channels or companies; all the channels already exist, there just being distributed to all TV’s. That is the same for the companies such as Sky and Virgin Media, they already exist, they are just being offered to all TV owners.

The issues / debates surrounding your technology - new media technology

The new technology has not created a new form of media; it has simply modernized it and improved the form. The technology has expanded the form of the media and made it more available. This has now made this media form a more reliable and accessible form of media. The increased channels and interactive option allows more advertising and marketing to go in this form of media.

The Future - what will happen

The future is variable for this technology. As technology is always improving the digital signal will be replaced one day. However there are other variables effecting the future. For example, there maybe portable TV’s, in mobile phones or something similar, the distribution maybe very different in years to come. However, the technology will always improve, so I would expect more channels made available in the future, with more HD available channels.