The United Kingdom is planning for a future in which television is increasingly delivered over the internet and terrestrial television may ultimately be switched off. Setting a target date can help drive that transition, but the timeline should not become the objective. The real test is whether any replacement for terrestrial transmission has demonstrated that it can maintain universal access, achieve significant consumer adoption, and provide a service at least as reliable and accessible as the one it replaces.
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Groups representing low-power television stations in the United States are calling on the Federal Communications Commission to allow them to use 5G Broadcast as an alternative to ATSC 3.0, which is promoted as NextGen TV. Their proposal raises a wider question for broadcasters around the world: what might 5G Broadcast offer that existing terrestrial television standards cannot?
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Google is expanding its Freeplay offering on Google TV in the United States, adding more than 10,000 movies and shows available on demand to over 300 scheduled online channels. The move makes free television a more substantial part of the Google TV platform.
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While some have been advocating switching off terrestrial television in the United Kingdom to save money, the cost of the online alternative has not really been counted. It may be convenient to consider the cost of online television as marginal or already accounted for, but the combination of additional household connectivity and broadcaster distribution could be almost a billion pounds a year to provide an internet-delivered equivalent to universal broadcast television.
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The BBC has shown every Commonwealth Games, and its predecessor the Empire Games, for over 70 years. This year it was outbid for the rights for both live and highlights coverage of the event held in Glasgow. The viewing figures were pretty dismal.
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People in the United Kingdom new spend almost 11 hours a day engaging with media. That figure includes simultaneous use of different types of media, which is increasingly common.
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