Convergence - is the term to describe the process of multiple technologies being brought together to form a new product.
The 'one box solution' has been the main focus of convergence, due to the other new media forms television faces a fresh challenge from other media forms as they start to look like television.
The 'MySpace generation' (18 to 24 year olds) is said to not be watching much television however this does not mean that moving image content is decreasing in population. Instead of television programming, video's are becoming more and more popular over the Internet.
Another implication of television being distributed over different platforms is in the rise of the Internet based 'channels'. An example of this could be Google Video where home users and existing television channels are offering content using the service.
Positives for audiences
There is far greater access to content which can be delievered on demand rather than on schedule. Content is also now portable through devices such as the iPod.
The virtually limiletness capacity for content allowed on the internet has allowed people to cater to very specific tastes, something which even the broad offering of the multi-channel digital television would find hard to compete against.
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Wednesday, 23 April 2008
Audience
Proliferation
With the introduction of digital television, audiences are no longer limited to the analogue 4 channels to a multi channel specialist which now aims at broader audiences.
Censorship
Sky digital does not allow you to view programmes that have certain age limitations, such as films etc. require an authocation code for viewing if it is before the watershed. This is only sometimes the case, other channels allow viewers of any age.
Control
With the introduction of digital television, audiences are no longer limited to the analogue 4 channels to a multi channel specialist which now aims at broader audiences.
Censorship
Sky digital does not allow you to view programmes that have certain age limitations, such as films etc. require an authocation code for viewing if it is before the watershed. This is only sometimes the case, other channels allow viewers of any age.
Control
With the introduction of PVR audiences can control their own timetable, along with this the recorder enables people to watch programmes that they may miss. As well as the PVR catch up programmes available on the internet such as BBC iPlayer and Channel 4 on Demand allow people to catch up on any television they have missed on the last seven days. This also adds to the convergence between the internet and television.
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
New Media Technologies: BBC
BBC iPlayer
The BBC has launched a new easy-to-use service that lets you access television programmes via your PC. BBC iPlayer is offering "seven-day catch-up television" – meaning that BBC TV programmes can be downloaded for free up to a week after transmission.
The programmes are free for UK licence fee payers, at high quality and with no advertising. Once you have downloaded a programme to your computer you have 30 days within which to start watching and seven days to finish watching it. After this time, the programme will automatically be deleted.
BBC iPlayer plans to incorporate radio and live streaming of TV at a later date as well as looking at offering BBC iPlayer on a range of platforms including cable and mobile.
The iPlayer experience has not been taken in by everyone as Mark Lawson says, "The likes of iPlayer let us watch programmes any time, but we risk losing the shared TV experience"
The BBC has now signed a deal with Nintendo to make its iPlayer available via Wii games consoles. The deal is the latest part of the BBC's strategy to make web-based content available on TV screens, as well as increase the iPlayer's audience by making its content more widely available
The BBC has also signed a deal with Apple which will allow iPod users to legally download BBC programmes onto their iPods at a cost of £1.89.
Video streaming
You can now watch live BBC TV coverage of major sports events such as Wimbledon and the Open Championship on your computer. You can also catch up with a variety of BBC Two programmes such as The Catherine Tate Show or Top Gear, and watch video of the latest news and sport stories.
BBC channels on YouTube
Two BBC channels offer clips and short features on current programmes such as EastEnders and Doctor Who, and clips from the archives including Spooks and Top Gear.
Digital TV on the move
It's now possible to receive digital TV on a computer – even a laptop – with a special digital terrestrial television adapter and aerial that plugs into a USB slot. Contact a retailer or look online for more information.
BBC's Wider Audience/BBC Switch
The BBC is also trying to lure in a new, younger audience of 12 to 16 years old by having a much anticipated teen strategy. BBC Switch is a cross-platform, which will use games design, online syndication, social networking and user-generated content. It will span teen-focused content on television, radio and the internet, including a new weekly music show on BBC2. Signs of Life is a broadband drama aimed at teens produced by Big Brother producer Endemol. Signs of Life was inspired by Twin Peaks and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, "The aim is to allow viewers to use interactivity to find out more about the drama and themselves," explains Peter Cowley, director of interactive media at Endemol.
From October 20, 12 to 16 year-olds will be able to have their very own teen focused hour on BBC2 on sunday afternoons. This will have a new music show called 'Sound' hosted by Radio 1 DJ Annie Mac and Nick Grimshaw, featuring the best in new UK music filmed at outside locations accross the country. The show runs for 30 mins, the other half of hour will be filled with the show 'Falcon Beach' a coming of age drama. The BBC is clearly under pressure to boost its teen appeal in the face of growing competition from iPods, mobile phones and online entertainment services such as MySpace and Bebo.
New Media Technologies: Digital Switchover & Sky Digital
Digital Switchover
Between 2008 and 2012, the analogue TV signal will be switched off in the UK, meaning the country will have to be 100% digital. Digital TV can be sent through an aerial, satellite, cable or phone line, and to watch it you need a set-top box or a built-in decoder in your TV set. As well as extra channels, digital also provides improved quality, electronic programme guides and interactive features via the red button, like voting or extra coverage. While analogue signals work by transmitting sounds and pictures as continuously varying waves, digital information is sent as compressed computerised pulses of information, coded as 1s and 0s, because these signals take up much less space than analogue, more channels can be squeezed into the same airwaves.
Digital television has helped move television from a push technology to a pull technology. This is due to companies such as Sky have enabled television to go from an analogue setting where only four channels are available, to a digital setting where on such devices as Sky around 900 channels can be viewed. As well as viewing a number of different channels you can also record programmes and pause and rewind live television. There are also a number of catch up programmes available from different companies including BBC iPlayer so people in essence can watch what they want.
High Definition
Institutions
Sky Digital
Sky Digital is subscription television service in the UK and Ireland owned by BSkyB. There are over 900 channels available over Sky which by June 2006 already had over 8,000,000 customers. Sky Television began in 1989 as a four-channel satellite television service launched by Rupert Murdoch's company News International. Sky Television merged with collapsed rival British Satellite Broadcasting in 1990.
Sky Digital starts from £16 and goes up to £45 a month. The Sky packages include the following mixes; Entertainment Mix, Sports Mix, and Movies Mix. These mixes include Variety channels, Style channels, News Channels, Music channels, Kids channels, Knowledge channels, Sports channels and Movie channels. A standard Sky box comes free with the TV package you buy.
Sky+ is a personal video recorder (PVR) service for Sky Digital. Launched in September 2001, Sky+ allows the user to record, pause and instantly rewind live TV. There are 3 versions of Sky+; Sky+ 40GB which was the first version of SKy+ and offers an average of twenty hours of recording time. Sky+ 80GB which is now the Sky+ is now the standard Sky+ box from September 2005, the box has an average of foutry hours of recording time. The drive has a 160 GB hard drive installed, however half of this is reserved for use by the Sky Anytime TV service. Sky+ 160 GB had over eighty hours of recording time. A Sky+ box costs from £149.
Sky HD is the brand name of the HDTV service launched by BSkyB on 22 May 2006 in the UK and the Republic of Ireland to enable high definition channels on Sky Digital to be viewed. The service requires the user to have a Sky HD Digibox (costing upwards of £249), and a HD ready TV
Competitors
Virgin Media Television is a British television company which is owned entirely by the United Kingdom based cable company Virgin Media, previously known as NTL:Telewest. Like Sky, Virgin Media offers High-definition television services. However, the number of channels available is limited by BSkyB's refusal to allow the HDTV channels it owns to be broadcast by other companies. This situation is somewhat addressed, however, by the fact that Virgin can provide HDTV content using its Video on demand services and the fact that the V+ HDTV-supplying box can upscale all of its received transmissions to near-HDTV quality.
Sky is facing increased competition from telecommunications providers delivering pay television services over existing telephone lines using ADSL. Such providers are potentially able to offer "triple-play" or "quad-play" packages combining land-line telephone, broadband Internet, mobile telephone and pay television services. To compete with these providers, in October 2005, BSkyB bought the broadband Internet Service Provider Easynet for £211 million. This acquisition has allowed BSkyB to recently start offering its "Sky Anytime on PC" service as well as a "triple play" package combining satellite television, land-line telephone and Broadband service.
Future
The Economist has suggested that News Corporation would eventually like to merge BSkyB with its US satellite operation, DirecTV and possibly its STAR TV network to form a global satellite TV company.
EPG
Sky has developed a new version of its Sky Guide electronic programme guide (EPG) service, which includes new genres, easier access to channels, and a complete renumbering system. It also includes new hotkeys to get into new menus quicker. This is the biggest change to the Sky EPG since its launch in 1998.
On Demand services
Sky Anytime is the current brand for Sky's on-demand services currently available on TV (Sky+ and Sky HD), PC and 3G mobile phones. It is designed to compete with other video on demand services such as BBC iPlayer and Virgin Media.
Between 2008 and 2012, the analogue TV signal will be switched off in the UK, meaning the country will have to be 100% digital. Digital TV can be sent through an aerial, satellite, cable or phone line, and to watch it you need a set-top box or a built-in decoder in your TV set. As well as extra channels, digital also provides improved quality, electronic programme guides and interactive features via the red button, like voting or extra coverage. While analogue signals work by transmitting sounds and pictures as continuously varying waves, digital information is sent as compressed computerised pulses of information, coded as 1s and 0s, because these signals take up much less space than analogue, more channels can be squeezed into the same airwaves.
Digital television has helped move television from a push technology to a pull technology. This is due to companies such as Sky have enabled television to go from an analogue setting where only four channels are available, to a digital setting where on such devices as Sky around 900 channels can be viewed. As well as viewing a number of different channels you can also record programmes and pause and rewind live television. There are also a number of catch up programmes available from different companies including BBC iPlayer so people in essence can watch what they want.
High Definition
High definition television, or HDTV, is a new format for watching programmes, offering sharper, clearer and brighter pictures and better sound. You need an HD-ready TV and an HD set-top box or decoder to receive the programmes, which are sent through digital signals. Televisions are considered HD-ready if the screen has enough pixels to display a high definition picture and must be capable of displaying pictures with either 720 or 1080 vertical lines. The programmes themselves must be made and transmitted in HD. The BBC is running free trial HD broadcasts, and Sky and Telewest are offering a commercial HD service. HD films are also available, but in two different formats - Blu-ray and HD-DVD.
Personal video recorders (PVRs) record digital television straight onto computer-like hard drives. They let you pause, rewind and replay action on screen while you are recording a programme - allowing for time-shift viewing of live TV. PVRs have built-in programme guides, making it easier to choose what to record. Some models let you tell them to always record your favourite soap, or tape all programmes on a specific subject. Most PVRs are combined with a digital TV service - such as Sky or Freeview.
On Demand
On demand means being able to throw away the TV schedule and watch what you want, when you want. Dedicated services - such as HomeChoice and BT Vision in the UK - send shows and films over a broadband connection to your TV via a set-top box. Or viewers can watch at leisure on a computer, with many US networks already offering hit shows online and UK broadcasters fast catching up. The missing link with this option is the device that connects or combines the computer and the TV.
Institutions
Sky Digital
Sky Digital is subscription television service in the UK and Ireland owned by BSkyB. There are over 900 channels available over Sky which by June 2006 already had over 8,000,000 customers. Sky Television began in 1989 as a four-channel satellite television service launched by Rupert Murdoch's company News International. Sky Television merged with collapsed rival British Satellite Broadcasting in 1990.
Sky Digital starts from £16 and goes up to £45 a month. The Sky packages include the following mixes; Entertainment Mix, Sports Mix, and Movies Mix. These mixes include Variety channels, Style channels, News Channels, Music channels, Kids channels, Knowledge channels, Sports channels and Movie channels. A standard Sky box comes free with the TV package you buy.
Sky+ is a personal video recorder (PVR) service for Sky Digital. Launched in September 2001, Sky+ allows the user to record, pause and instantly rewind live TV. There are 3 versions of Sky+; Sky+ 40GB which was the first version of SKy+ and offers an average of twenty hours of recording time. Sky+ 80GB which is now the Sky+ is now the standard Sky+ box from September 2005, the box has an average of foutry hours of recording time. The drive has a 160 GB hard drive installed, however half of this is reserved for use by the Sky Anytime TV service. Sky+ 160 GB had over eighty hours of recording time. A Sky+ box costs from £149.
Sky HD is the brand name of the HDTV service launched by BSkyB on 22 May 2006 in the UK and the Republic of Ireland to enable high definition channels on Sky Digital to be viewed. The service requires the user to have a Sky HD Digibox (costing upwards of £249), and a HD ready TV
Competitors
Virgin Media Television is a British television company which is owned entirely by the United Kingdom based cable company Virgin Media, previously known as NTL:Telewest. Like Sky, Virgin Media offers High-definition television services. However, the number of channels available is limited by BSkyB's refusal to allow the HDTV channels it owns to be broadcast by other companies. This situation is somewhat addressed, however, by the fact that Virgin can provide HDTV content using its Video on demand services and the fact that the V+ HDTV-supplying box can upscale all of its received transmissions to near-HDTV quality.
Sky is facing increased competition from telecommunications providers delivering pay television services over existing telephone lines using ADSL. Such providers are potentially able to offer "triple-play" or "quad-play" packages combining land-line telephone, broadband Internet, mobile telephone and pay television services. To compete with these providers, in October 2005, BSkyB bought the broadband Internet Service Provider Easynet for £211 million. This acquisition has allowed BSkyB to recently start offering its "Sky Anytime on PC" service as well as a "triple play" package combining satellite television, land-line telephone and Broadband service.
Future
The Economist has suggested that News Corporation would eventually like to merge BSkyB with its US satellite operation, DirecTV and possibly its STAR TV network to form a global satellite TV company.
EPG
Sky has developed a new version of its Sky Guide electronic programme guide (EPG) service, which includes new genres, easier access to channels, and a complete renumbering system. It also includes new hotkeys to get into new menus quicker. This is the biggest change to the Sky EPG since its launch in 1998.
On Demand services
Sky Anytime is the current brand for Sky's on-demand services currently available on TV (Sky+ and Sky HD), PC and 3G mobile phones. It is designed to compete with other video on demand services such as BBC iPlayer and Virgin Media.
Monday, 21 April 2008
Ofcom
The system of PSB in UK television has evolved over the course of more than 70 years – the BBC was granted its first Royal Charter in 1927, and regular television broadcasting began in 1936. Competition was introduced gradually into the system: independent television (ITV) was launched in 1955, BBC Two went on air in 1964, Channel 4 came into being in 1982, and Channel 5 (later Five) was launched in 1997.
This system has operated on the basis of increasing the number of PSB providers (referred to as plurality of PSB provision) – and the assumption that this plurality creates competition for quality in the provision of PSB. UK viewers benefit from provision by five main public service television broadcasters – the BBC, Channel 3, Channel 4, Five and S4C (plus Teletext). In addition, there are a number of other broadcasters who contribute to PSB’s purposes and characteristics in a range of ways.
The PSB Review identified that changes in the market are threatening the established PSB system – the move from analogue to digital, and consequently multichannel, television may mean it is no longer realistic to expect commercial broadcasters to deliver significant PSB obligations due to their fragmenting audience base. As such, PSB provision from commercially-funded organisations is under potential threat. This was one of the most important, and at the time controversial, conclusions of the PSB Review.
Ofcom’s belief is that PSB in the UK should evolve with the grain of these trends rather than seek merely to minimise their impact on the current system.
The future of news: what are the prospects for television news after digital switchover?
All PSB providers are obliged to carry news as part of their services. However, the decline of the efficacy of the existing arrangements to ensure PSB provision makes the enforcement of these PSB obligations more uncertain after digital switchover. In addition, there may also be changes to the commercial environment for non-PSB providers, which have implications for the provision of news output. Against this background, Ofcom will carry out a project to assess the prospects for television news in the wider context of access to and consumption of news in the post-switchover era. It will consider how the market is likely to develop and what the implications are for ensuring plurality of news provision and/or maintaining the quality of that provision.
The future of Channel 4: Channel 4 has played a key role in providing plurality in the PSB system over the past quarter century. Ofcom will need to examine Channel 4’s financial and operational performance in detail in order to assess the company’s future prospects in the digital era.
This system has operated on the basis of increasing the number of PSB providers (referred to as plurality of PSB provision) – and the assumption that this plurality creates competition for quality in the provision of PSB. UK viewers benefit from provision by five main public service television broadcasters – the BBC, Channel 3, Channel 4, Five and S4C (plus Teletext). In addition, there are a number of other broadcasters who contribute to PSB’s purposes and characteristics in a range of ways.
The PSB Review identified that changes in the market are threatening the established PSB system – the move from analogue to digital, and consequently multichannel, television may mean it is no longer realistic to expect commercial broadcasters to deliver significant PSB obligations due to their fragmenting audience base. As such, PSB provision from commercially-funded organisations is under potential threat. This was one of the most important, and at the time controversial, conclusions of the PSB Review.
Ofcom’s belief is that PSB in the UK should evolve with the grain of these trends rather than seek merely to minimise their impact on the current system.
The future of news: what are the prospects for television news after digital switchover?
All PSB providers are obliged to carry news as part of their services. However, the decline of the efficacy of the existing arrangements to ensure PSB provision makes the enforcement of these PSB obligations more uncertain after digital switchover. In addition, there may also be changes to the commercial environment for non-PSB providers, which have implications for the provision of news output. Against this background, Ofcom will carry out a project to assess the prospects for television news in the wider context of access to and consumption of news in the post-switchover era. It will consider how the market is likely to develop and what the implications are for ensuring plurality of news provision and/or maintaining the quality of that provision.
The future of Channel 4: Channel 4 has played a key role in providing plurality in the PSB system over the past quarter century. Ofcom will need to examine Channel 4’s financial and operational performance in detail in order to assess the company’s future prospects in the digital era.
Tuesday, 1 April 2008
Citizen Journalism
What is Citizen Journalism?
Citizen journalism is where media consumers are making themselves heard by reporting on their own news stories through various ways such as pictures from mobile phones or posting blogs.
What vision of the future did the Googlezon video present?
Googlezon is a fictional company created in the future when Google merges with Amazon. Google will create a 'Google Grid' which has an unlimited amount of storage space and bandwidth so any kind of media can be shared. Along with Amazon, Googlezon aim to take over from Microsoft and become the biggest internet news cast. Googlezon wins this so called battle and releases EPIC (Evolving Personalized Information Construct) which puts the fourth estate out of buisiness.
What could be the advantages and disadvantages for us as consumers?
Consumers would have a very personalised news agenda, so any type of media can be published as it is the consumer broadcasting what they want. There will be a lot of bias and the news will be based mainly on opinion rather than fact. The fourth estate will go out of business, therefore leaving journalists with no place in the media and no job.
Citizen journalism is where media consumers are making themselves heard by reporting on their own news stories through various ways such as pictures from mobile phones or posting blogs.
What vision of the future did the Googlezon video present?
Googlezon is a fictional company created in the future when Google merges with Amazon. Google will create a 'Google Grid' which has an unlimited amount of storage space and bandwidth so any kind of media can be shared. Along with Amazon, Googlezon aim to take over from Microsoft and become the biggest internet news cast. Googlezon wins this so called battle and releases EPIC (Evolving Personalized Information Construct) which puts the fourth estate out of buisiness.
What could be the advantages and disadvantages for us as consumers?
Consumers would have a very personalised news agenda, so any type of media can be published as it is the consumer broadcasting what they want. There will be a lot of bias and the news will be based mainly on opinion rather than fact. The fourth estate will go out of business, therefore leaving journalists with no place in the media and no job.
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
Newspapers - In Decline?
What is 'the Fourth Estate'?
Fourth estate is the press itself, there are three other estates, religion, the courts and Parliament. The fourth estate was argued by Edmund Burke to act as a check on abuses of power by the other three estates by holding them accountable to the electorate and providing information to ensure democracy is allowed to operate efficiently.
Is new media technology responsible for the decline in newspapers?
Newspapers are now seen as publishing yesterday's news whereas new media technologies such as the internet and live news channels can broadcast live and breaking news at the time it happens. As well as this the internet has usurped the newspapers' role of news provider even further, so now newspaper companies are publishing newspapers on the internet for free, however newspapers which have experimented with subscription-only web access have had little success.
Fourth estate is the press itself, there are three other estates, religion, the courts and Parliament. The fourth estate was argued by Edmund Burke to act as a check on abuses of power by the other three estates by holding them accountable to the electorate and providing information to ensure democracy is allowed to operate efficiently.
Is new media technology responsible for the decline in newspapers?
Newspapers are now seen as publishing yesterday's news whereas new media technologies such as the internet and live news channels can broadcast live and breaking news at the time it happens. As well as this the internet has usurped the newspapers' role of news provider even further, so now newspaper companies are publishing newspapers on the internet for free, however newspapers which have experimented with subscription-only web access have had little success.
What does it mean "maybe the internet is already the cyberspace of the fourth estate"?
This means that the internet is taking over the role of the press, the internet is able to publish news when it breaks and can also offer online newspapers. The internet is now taking over from newspapers, as you can access news on the internet for free rather than having to pay for news which can be seen as old news in newspapers.
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