Modern Trends in

Broadcasting

Introduction to Broadcasting
January 17, 2011
 Questions about the Future of
Broadcasting

1. Will broadcasting be supplanted by the

Internet?
2. Will convergence lead to a single
delivery system for multimedia
services?
3. Which broadcast delivery systems
(terrestrial, satellite or cable) will
become dominant for digital TV?
4. Will the reduction in costs of computer
hardware affect broadcasting?
5. Will computers merge with TV sets?
 The Future of
Broadcasting
Those making bold predictions
about the future should be
aware that many predictions
made in the past have proved
to be dramatically wrong
even when made by experts
with impeccable credentials.
 The Future of
Broadcasting
The eminent scientist
Lord Kelvin stated in
1895 that Heavier-than
air flying machines are
impossible and in 1897
compounded this error by
saying that Radio has no
future.
 The Future of
Broadcasting
In 1943, the
chairman of
IBM, Thomas
Watson said: I
think there's a
world market
for, maybe, 5
computers.
 The Future of
Broadcasting
In 1977, Ken
Olsen, the founder
and president of
Digital Equipment
Corporation said:
There is no
reason for any
individual to have
a computer in
their home.
 The Computer vs.
Broadcasting Industry
The Computer Industry:
the computer industry has
achieved the remarkable feat of
persuading users that they need to
replace their computers very
frequently.
This means that users of older
computers cannot run the latest
software without upgrading their
hardware. This inflationary spiral
 The Computer vs.
Broadcasting Industry
The Broadcasting Industry:
Manufacturers of televisions have
much greater problems. Ordinary TV
sets cannot evolve to products with
greater functionality. It is true that
new features can be added, such as
widescreen, surround sound and
high-definition, but a television
essentially remains a television.
The Future of
Broadcasting
 Digital Television
What is Digital TV?
Digital television (DTV) is
the sending and receiving of
moving images and sound
by means of discrete
(digital)signals, in contrast
to the analog signals used
by analog TV.
 Digital Television
Countries Converting/Converted from Analog to Digital Television

2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2015

Luxembou Netherlan Switzerlan USA Japan UK China

rg ds d

Finland Belgium Canada Malaysia

Andorra Germany Philippine

s

Sweden

Norway
Digital Television in the
Philippines
Why switch to DTV?
- it freed up parts of the
valuable broadcast
spectrum for public safety
communications (such as
police, fire departments,
and rescue squads).
Digital Television in the
Philippines
On Nov. 5, 2006, The National
Telecommunications
Commission (NTC), gives a
memo to all TV Stations in
thePhilippines to fully covert
from analog to digital
technology until or before Dec.
31, 2015.
Digital Television in the
Philippines
Characteristics of Digital TV
Subtitles are possible
Sound quality is better
Images are clear
Digital TV sets come in
widescreen format
Digital Television in the
Philippines
Digital Television in the
Philippines
Characteristics of Digital TV
(cont.)
Allows multicasting-
broadcaster can subdivide the
digital channel and offer
several lower definition
programs in the same space or
TV channel
Digital Television in the
Philippines
Example: A broadcaster can
offer four different
programs on its single
channel. When a viewer
tunes in the channel, he or
she will see a screen with
four small windows.
Digital Television in the
Philippines
PBB The
Double Up Correspond
UBER ents
TV PATROL STAR CINEMA
WORLD PRESENTS
(Replay)
REPLA
Y
Sample afternoon digital programming
on ABS-CBN 2
 Digital Television in the
Philippines
How is this possible?
A station may broadcast an
HDTV during primetime but
at other times of the day
switch to lower definition
signals and offer four
different programs on its
single channel
 Digital Television in the
Philippines
Digital Television Quality
Levels

Standard Definition TV (SDTV)

Enhanced Definition TV
(EDTV)
High Definition TV (HDTV)
 Digital Television in the
Philippines
1. SDTV is the basic level
of quality display and
resolution for both analog
and digital. Transmission
of SDTV may be in either
the traditional (4:3) or
widescreen (16:9) format.
 Digital Television in the
Philippines
2. EDTV is a step up from
Analog Television. EDTV
comes in 480p widescreen
(16:9) or traditional (4:3)
format and provides better
picture quality than SDTV,
but not as high as HDTV.
 Digital Television in the
Philippines
3. HDTV in widescreen format
(16:9) provides the highest
resolution and picture quality of
all digital broadcast formats.
Combined with digitally
enhanced sound technology,
HDTV sets new standards for
sound and picture quality in
television.
 Digital Television in the
Philippines
Digital technology will multiply
the number of available
broadcast services, including:
free-to-air services;
subscription services;
near-video-on-demand services;
pay-per-view services.
Digital Television in the
Philippines

Question:
Will old analog TV
sets become
obsolete?
Digital Television in the
Philippines

Answer:
NO
 Digital Television in the
Philippines
ANSWER:
Even though the DTV Transition
is completed, your analog TV set
is not obsolete. However, there
are some steps you must take to
be able to continue to use it.
 Digital Television in the
Philippines
To ensure continued use of your
analog set, you must do one of the
following:
1. Connect to a subscription service
such as cable or satellite TV.
2. Use a digital-to-analog converter
box.
 Digital Television in the
Philippines
Analog sets equipped with a
converter box will display the digital
broadcasts, but not in full digital
quality.
This converter box, much like your
cable box, will allow you to receive a
picture, but it won't be able to show
high-definition pictures or give you
access to other digital services.
 Digital Television in the
Philippines
Part of ABS-CBN plan is to spend
an initial P500 million for a
partial migration from analog to
digital TV technology and
initially distribute for free
400,000 set-top boxes in pilot
DTT areas. A set-top boxes cost
around P1,000.00
 Digital Television in the
Philippines
Other Television Network also
expressed their interest to switch
to digital platform, like Associated
Broadcasting Company (ABC-
5), theyre already testing digital
transmission at channel 47. Lastly
GMA Network also planning to go
for digital TV.
 Modern Trends in
Broadcasting
Television and video on the
internet
Examples:
www.youtube.com and other
video streaming websites
 Modern Trends in
Broadcasting
Apple itunes sells complete downloads
of TV programs such as Lost and
Desperate Housewives for $2 each
Google Video offers news and old
programs ranging in price from free to
$4
AOL has In2TV offering free download
of classic shows
Mobile videos
 Modern Trends in
Broadcasting
In the Philippines, local
broadcast stations, apart from
having interactive websites,
maintain their own social
networking accounts, where
they can show plug materials
and information about their
shows
 SHOW VIDEO
INTERNET IMPACT
TO TRADITIONAL
MEDIA
 The Future of Radio
Modern Trends in Radio
Broadcasting
1. Terrestrial digital radio broadcasting -
same as with digital TV wherein:
-digital signal of an AM station
sounds as good as a CD
-while the AM digital signal sounds
as good as traditional FM
 The Future of Radio
2. Satellite radio- commercial
free music channels and news,
talk and variety channels (by
subscription)
-SHOW VIDEO-SATELLITE RADIO

3. Mobile radio- portable satellite,

internet and traditional radio
 The Future of Radio
4. Internet radio -Web
broadcasters offer dozens of
specialized music /news/talk
formats with limited or regular
commercials
-targets audiences who listen to
radio at work
Examples: radio simulcasts-
www. gmanews.tv and dzbb, www.dzmm.com.ph
 The Future of Radio
5. Podcasting- recording and
downloading of audio files
stored on servers
How it works?
A person records a radio
program and makes it available
for downloading at a website
 Sources:
Dominick, Joseph R. ( 2007) The Dynamics
of Mass Communication: Media in the
Digital Age 10th ed. USA McGraw-Hill
Baran, Stanley (2008). Introduction to
Mass Communication Media Literacy and
Culture 5th ed. USA McGraw-Hill
www.dtv.gov
www.fcc.gov
Digital television - http://www.fcc.gov/cgb