Across the globe, nations are switching to digital television at dramatic speed. The technology was in its infancy in the 1990s, but by the end of 2012 about half of the world's 1.2 billion TV households had converted to digital reception and some thirty nations, including the United Kingdom, had switched off analogue terrestrial television.
In analogue television the broadcasters chose what we watched, when and where. With the full switch to digital television, and with broadcasting's convergence with the Internet, we can make these choices for ourselves. But can we shape those choices or are we at the mercy of technology and market forces? This book describes and analyses the digital television switchover with two broad aims: to show how lessons can be learned and transferred from one country to another, and to inform public debate about media policy during and after the switchover process, empowering citizens to influence and manage the outcomes.
Michael Starks is an associate of the Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy at Oxford University, UK. He managed the Government-led UK Digital TV Project from 2002 to 2004, planning the nation's digital switchover strategy. Earlier he directed much of the BBC's work on digital television and was the founder Chairman of the UK Digital TV Group. He is the author of Switching to Digital Television: UK Public Policy and the Market (2007) and the founding editor of the International Journal of Digital Television.