Australian media companies and marketers must see the writing on the wall.

Big media companies are scaling up formerly tentative experiments in consumer-created content, social networking and interactive resources. They are developing new advertising formats, sometimes in partnerships such as the one last year between NBC and Yahoo! for Unilever’s Dove soap, which tied-in to the reality TV show The Apprentice. The promotion drove a 1500 per cent increase in traffic to the Dove website. This helps marketers emerge out from under the power of the TV networks. Pepsi relaunched PepsiOne in the US without television last year. Pepsi and BMW are two of the leading marketers thriving without TV.

After a decade of increases in advertising budgets but relative stability in their media mix, many leading US marketers are directing more money and attention to digital media. Traditional media, especially television, is raising prices but not delivering sales. Consumers using pay TV, mobile phones, video games and the internet have shifted media habits, and this shift will increase substantially this year as greater broadband penetration legitimises the internet as an entertainment platform.

Mr Budde predicts that today’s 3.5 million broadband subscribers will grow into a market worth $70 billion within 10 years. And these users don’t like ads. Digital TV users in the US (Foxtel’s iQ is a local equivalent) say they fast-forward through 92 per cent of commercials but 55 per cent say they would pay more to get personalised marketing.

In a Washington Post/ Nielsen Media Research survey of working women, 44 per cent of respondents rated the net a very important medium with which to research health-care products before buying; more than double the number who said they turned to magazines, the next most cited medium, for such information. The conclusions are bleak for traditional media.

The most successful media companies have a presence in digital media such as websites, on mobile phones, social networking, and gaming, where they build relationships with consumers. TV networks are putting content online. Within just a few months of the introduction of Apple’s video iPod in the US, several TV networks, both free-to-air and pay, had begun distributing their shows for download. In April the US ABC network said it would make four of its most popular prime-time shows available free on the web. ESPN makes as much money online as it does through broadcasting.

HISTORY & TECHNICAL BACKGROUND:

Asia and the Pacific Rim were the first places in which MPEG-2 Free Air Channels reception was used on a large scale. The difference between those markets and America was that prior to the mid 90s, it took literally very huge antennas to get even a few dozen channels…making TV reception of many channels an impossible dream. MPEG-2 technology was a breakthrough that allowed great reductions in per-channel transmission costs. Mass consumers in those regions never had the chance to spend lots of money on more costly analog equipment. Their first exposure to satellite TV was more often than not in a digital format. No 15 to 20 year learning curve of various stages of analog receivers prior to going to digital, like we did here.

So the Asia-Pacific market was a test bed on how to get it right, with costs coming down due to companies from the Far East trying to compete for the huge mainland Chinese market. Then Europe… now America.

MPEG-2 is a worldwide satellite transmission standard for digital broadcasting. It is the wave of the future, because of the simple economics that can allow 8 or even 10 video signals to occupy the same space as one channel of analog transmission. Just as some analog signals can be scrambled for subscription use, digital channels can be transmitted either scrambled or in-the-clear. In-The-Clear is known in the digital TV world as FTA or Free Air Channels . Since it is a worldwide standard, there are more MPEG-2/DVB (digital video broadcasting) channels available in places such as Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, than presently found in the American market. National public broadcasters in other parts of the world have adopted MPEG-2 as a cost-effective way to distribute their signals on limited budgets.

Spread of free MPEG-2 signals into North America has been previously hampered by the dominance of the Digicipher 2 video standard made by the former General Instrument (now Motorola Broadband) group. Receivers such as 4DTV and other versions of the Digicipher 2 actually have the letters MPEG-2 stamped on them, but are not compatible with the rest of the world. The difference comes in the way that signals are layered together, especially in the encryption process. It has given the Digicipher 2 a protected monopoly in America. Scientific-Atlanta’s PowerVu system is more closely related to MPEG-2, and it has a lion’s share of digital channels in the rest of the world. It helps that the worldwide PanAmSat satellite system works closely with Scientific-Atlanta in promoting this digital alternative.

What is unique is that when signals are NOT addressable encoded, the PowerVu system can be viewed in-the-clear (or Free Air Channels ) on most consumer MPEG-2 digital receivers. Several DBS systems in North America use the MPEG-2 platform, and when they choose NOT to encode channels, signals are also available in the same manner. These include Echostar’s DISH Network, Canada’s Bell ExpressVu, Mexico’s SKY MEXICO, and the former Sky Vista and AlphaStar…once on Telstar 5 but now out of business.

This unusual mix of compatible Free Air Channels systems has presented the opportunity for a great number of channels to become available to North American viewers. There are always a few channels t in the transition between in-the-clear and subscription transmission mode. The ultimate goal in many cases is for a subscription service, but some channels have been in-the-clear for months and even years before reverting to scrambling. When a channel goes into that mode, arrangements are usually available with one of the small dish DBS services to sell a subsidized priced receiver when making a long-term commitment to a subscription. We shall concentrate on the channels that continue to transmit in a free mode. A great number of the channels available Free Air Channels in MPEG-2 are those from other countries. Such availability is contingent upon somebody paying the bill for satellite transmission across the ocean, and then retransmitting to the North American market.

In some cases, the North American signal is made available on one of the small-dish systems such as DirecTV or DISH Network for a monthly fee, but the incoming feed from overseas is left in the clear. The reason is primarily economic, with the logic that very few people will go to the trouble of installing a large C-band antenna in this day and age to view one free channel, when they can have it delivered by alternative methods for what some might consider to be a reasonable fee. Problem is that this “free” reception sometimes gets too popular, and the bean counters at DISH Network decide to encode the incoming international feeds, thus forcing all to subscribe. This happened recently with Polish services, then Russian, and who knows what next. A great number of Arabic channels are presently in the clear…a few are incoming feeds for DISH Network, and several others are sponsored and paid for by different governments in Arabic countries such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The latter wish to make their signals available around the world to expatriates as well as the rest of the world..as a window into their culture. These governments pay to keep these signals available free of charge to individual viewers with satellite equipment. Such benevolence goes against the U.S. model of commercialism and paying for TV, but it helps explain why some languages are readily available here and others are not. Somebody has to pay to get it on satellite, and if a country or a language does not have either a sponsor or an adequate number of paying customers, then it will likely not be available to our market.

PLEASE READ BEFORE CONSIDERING THE PURCHASE OF AN MPEG-2 RECEIVER !

There is no guarantee on the permanent availability of any particular channel. These receivers are primarily designed for the hobbyist; to allow hundreds of additional channels to become available via satellite. This is not the same as, and not a replacement for a 4DTV digital receiver. It should be considered as a supplementary way of getting additional channels otherwise unavailable—no more, no less. Please do a little homework by studying sources such as the Lyngemark Satellite Chart at http:// www.lyngsat.com/. These lists will show current in-the-clear (Free Air Channels ) channels, if you are looking for particular information on the status of a channel or service. Any channel that is now part of an otherwise subscription service but temporarily in free mode should be considered as NOT available on a permanent basis…unless you pay a subscription fee and have hardware for that service.

Other broadcasters could be approached individually with an Email, requesting info on what their future plans may be with regard to subscription or free status. The Lyngemark Satellite Chart listed above has Email links and contact information for many channels around the world. Otherwise, do as most hobbyists do…enjoy the free show while it lasts. The number of channels continue to grow, so if your favorite Free Air Channels service goes away or switches to subscription, chances are better than not that something else will soon come along that tickles your fancy.

See the original post at abadss.com

NETWORKS such as Ten and Nine are struggling with a decreasing share of advertising revenue, but the industry should not be declared to be in a terminal condition.

Industry executives and analysts say despite pressure from media such as online and subscription television, free-to-air TV has substantial growth prospects.

But it will have to learn to share its piece of the pie.

“Hysterical claptrap,” managing director of media buying group Fusion Strategy Steve Allen, said of the suggestion fewer people were watching free-to-air television.

“People are saying it’s all over for television. But the past year has been tough for all media types. We think the main media still offer the best brand-building area and the most efficient brand-building area for advertisers. The internet is complementary to that.”

Owner of online news media Crikey Eric Beecher said flat revenues in the advertising market were cyclical. But new media has been increasing its share.

Chairman of media buying group Mitchell & Partners Harold Mitchell said free-to-air television and radio will have to learn to reinvent themselves.

“Advertising budgets will be fragmented across many more media outlets,” he said in a submission to the Federal Government’s media reform agenda.

“Advertisers will not spend more than they need.”

Original Article http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/new-media-scalpel-cuts-into-freetoair-but-wound-yet-to-bleed/2006/06/21/1150845243944.html

What to you think about this? Are people watching less TV and moving more towards the internet for entertainment. i know that i have seen a lot of movement towards internet tv

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