Australian-Media.com.au News
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Get ready for digital television
April 1 2009 9:45pm (UTC+8) - Article by Kevin
The Federal Government has announced it will spend $6.7 million on an advertising campaign to educate Australians about digital television.
From next Sunday, commercials will air on television and radio promoting digital television in an attempt to get people to make the switch to digital before the expected 2013 switchover date in metropolitan areas.
Speaking at the "Get ready for digital TV" conference in Sydney, Senator Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, said the switch to digital is the "biggest national format change since the swap to decimal currency and it is important that Australia get ready".
"For most people, getting ready for digital will be a simple and inexpensive task, but it is important that all Australians are well informed to make the switch", he said.
The Senator added that there was no reason for people to wait to make the switch with digital television having been available in Australia since 2001.
Freeview, the non-profit organisation created by the ABC, Network Ten, Nine Network, Prime Media Group, SBS, Seven Network, Southern Cross Broadcasting and WIN Corporation, is also attempting to raise awareness on digital television through advertising. Freeview was launched in November through the use of a one minute "roadblock" commercial shown on all free-to-air networks across Australia at 6:29pm in each market.
The Freeview advertising campaign promoting their 15 free-to-air digital channels combined with the Government's commercials warning of the closure of analogue TV transmissions is intended to help consumers buy the right device for them.
Those people who choose not to make the switch to digital will lose all access to all free-to-air television when the switchover occurs. For some country areas, this is expected to begin as early as 2010.
Australian-Media.com.au
Comments
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Mister Man
April 1 2009
10:48pm
#1 of 3Get ready for lots of channels that are full of shit and look like shit! -
Kevin
April 2 2009
12:01am
#3 of 3It Ten change ONE to 720p then that will show how stupid the whole idea is. We all bitched about Seven for years for using 576p and years later they finally realise people wanted 1080i and did it. If any of them completely drop 1080i then that is a bad sign for the future of FTA TV.
I think viewing TV over an antenna's (and even cable TV) days are very numbered.
The American TV networks already have their main shows free to watch on demand - in full HD - on their websites with limited commercial interruption. Australia can't do that until the debacle called the National Broadband Network is sorted out (because the majority of Australians don't have internet connections fast enough to handle decent broadcast quality streaming video), and even then it will be a couple of years before anything substantial, if anything, happens with that.
Then the issue of download quota is a problem in Australia, which isn't an issue in the US as there aren't quotas on connections.
The internet will be the death of FTA TV sooner rather than later. Channel BT started the process, but the networks dishing out on-demand HD video on their own websites will be what continues that process.
I'm not sure of the costs, but one would expect it to be much cheaper for a TV station to "broadcast" purely online rather than over the air?
Regardless, digital is definitely the way to go for the time being (analogue is just plain crap compared to digital) but it all seems a bit of a waste now.
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