Impacts of new technologies on free-to-air tv industry: Lessons from selected country cases

Abstract

This paper aims to examine the impacts of new technologies, especially of the digital TV, on the industry of terrestrial TV in selected countries. Taking the evolution of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a background scenario, the transformations provoked by digitization of TV on the following aspects are analyzed: (i) the market structure of terrestrial TV (or free-to-air TV broadcasting), (ii) the plurality and diversity of TV programming. Based on secondary data and on recent studies on the technological trajectory of terrestrial TV in selected countries, one concludes that digital TV may provide great opportunities for development in such industry, but the magnitude of its benefits is strongly conditioned by socioeconomic factors and by how the service was regulated. Such findings may contribute to Brazilian debate on development opportunities opened by technological change to the television sector. © Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Facultad de Economía y Negocios.