In the past, media and information forms remained reasonably distinct and separate. For example, In Forces for Change, Trevor Barr writes; “television channels broadcast television programs, telecommunication companies enabled phone calls to be made between people and computing essentially processed information� (Barr: 2000). However, over time these functions have begun to merge and the boundaries of these three forms of communication have blurred together. This process is called convergence. Although convergence is a very broad topic, this proposal will simply look at two types of convergence at the forefront of this changing society; functional convergence and the convergence of industries. We will use television as a case study, and look at how these convergent times are changing this broadcast medium from a static, one-way form of communication to the interactive, rapidly changing medium it’s quickly becoming known for.
Although television began sliding across into territories of the different functions well before digitalisation of the medium was even an idea, it must be said early that digitalisation of the medium is the primary cause for such rapid development within the area. The digitisation of television is developing quickly. Cable and satellite networks are being digitised, broadband companies are preparing to transfer television on their networks, and the general television network is likely to be digitalised within a few years. This digitisation is expected to provide a number of new opportunities: Digital networks will enable more channels and services than the analogue does. New services will be developed that does not only integrate text and moving images, but also enable interactivity with and between the viewers/users.
Traditionally, television networks have used analogue technologies to deliver their content, but now, they are progressively converting to digital technologies as stated earlier. “Digitalisation is the process which converts any type of information into a compressed form to be sent as a stream of bits for use at the receiving end� (Hartley: 2002). Digitalisation enables the transmission of all kinds of communication signals- not only voice, but also data, video, graphics and music over a network. Digitalisation has facilitated the rapid traffic increases of multiple modes of communication, not simply television.
When we look at the history of television it is a topic well documented, but in the search for television’s convergent history, it is a subject less written about. Maybe the first real step towards a more integrated television set came from teletext technology. Teletext is a one-way non-interactive information retrieval service. A fixed number of information pages are repetitively broadcast on unused portions of a TV channel bandwidth. With these broadcasts a decoder at the television set is used to select and display pages. The ability to send simple Text and Graphics as part of a television signal was discovered by BBC engineers in the mid 1970's. Teletext was first screened on Australian and New Zealand Television on the 1st of February 1984. Although Teletext was originally intended as a service for the deaf and hearing impaired, the popularity of the service has grown, and today there are more than 7 million viewers in Australia and New Zealand alone. The UK is recording figures as high as 18 million people using the teletext service every week, a figure surprising for a technology originally intended for the hearing impaired.
Now with television taking the walk down digital lane, it has begun to converge with other mediums in leaps and bounds. This path from analogue to digital is a bumpy one being smoothed by the set-top box. A set-top box is a device that enables a television set to become a user interface to the Internet and also enables a television set to receive and decode digital television (DTV) broadcasts. DTV set-top boxes are sometimes called receivers. A set-top box is necessary to television viewers who wish to use their current analogue television sets to receive digital broadcasts. To some extent, set-top boxes are lessening the digital divide widened by the transition to a digital television system. Instead of a person having to buy a new digital television set to remain able to receive a television broadcast, one can now simply buy a much less expensive set-top box and convert the digital signal to their analogue television set. It is estimated that 35 million homes will use digital set-top boxes by the end of 2006, the estimated year ending the transition to DTV.
Despite this estimation, the initial acceptance and uptake of this digital convergence has been poor. Those wanting to purchase digital receivers will find themselves set back approximately $3500. Presumably for this reason, household penetration of these devices sits at about 1% (McBeth, 2003). Governments and marketers alike must determine whether digital television is a technology upgrade that will maintain consumer interest. McBeth believes when it comes to the ability to change camera angles during your favourite sporting game, “the novelty will wear off� (2003). Consumers are not willing to pay so much money to constantly upgrade their technology when the fulfilment will eventually dissolve and its time to fork out more money to get the latest on offer. As mentioned previously, television stepped forward with the introduction of teletext and now television is leaping into digital technology with in the space of 35 years. Teletext has never been a buzz word that peaks consumer interest and it is a wonder that digital television will be any different.
There are many other avenues to convergence besides digital television. More precisely, “convergence is about the collapse of disparate technology, equipment and services into a set of common and ubiquitous technology, equipment and services� (Internet Industry Association, 2002). The Internet Industry Association (IIA) Convergence Virtual Taskforce (ICVT), have outlined forces (examples) that currently drive convergence. The home computer has increasingly become a multitasking device, allowing consumers to play, record and edit music and videos from around the world. This convergence between computers, telecommunications and industry equipment, has brought about many control and copyright issues regarding songs and redistribution. With most things available on the Internet these days, who has the right to ‘borrow’ information or songs, or more importantly, who has the authority to choose who can receive that right? However, to the average consumer, the benefits that home computers offer far outweigh those legal issues that plague industry bodies.
Secondly, the ICVT comments on network computer devices that provide limited digital services to broadband such as the ability for X-box and PlayStation to incorporate computer style applications. The main concern with this and possibly convergence as a whole is Cannibalisation. By definition, “cannibalisation is the decreased demand for an existing product that occurs when its vendor releases a new and similar product� (searchCRM.com, 2004). In context because computers have the same abilities as X-box and PlayStation, it is possible that these game devices will slowly lose market share. Similarly, the Internet has the ability to provide constant, up-to-date news, information and communication, decreasing the need for the more traditional forms of communication such as newspapers and letters.
Broadband wireless solutions are also a driving force and example of convergence. G3 mobile phones give consumers the ability to communicate via SMS, MMS, email and live video calls. They can download ringtones, MP3’s, emails, news information and entertainment straight from the Internet to their handset. Perhaps a more common setting for mobile phone technology is the ability to vote for people on the latest reality television program. Increasingly, reality shows offer the audience the convenience of voting from their phones, for example Big Brother. A television show such as Big Brother ties together many media to maximise the reach and interactivity of the program. Telecommunications, television, radio, the Internet and print media were used to effectively produce Big Brother. The Internet in its self was a convergent hub including video and audio files, photo galleries and interactive voting lines. Big Brother presents us with a situation where the text of the television show is no longer limited to the television medium, and the viewer is not just a bewildered observer, but is becoming a part of the broader text. Big Brother has deliberately ‘overflowed’ the bounds of television, and through its simulacrum of a website has let itself merge into the vast diversity of Internet (Brooker, 2004: 569). However Malcolm Long (in Cunningham and Turner, 2002: 183) believes that our television sets will increasingly become more Internet attributed. “Digitisation, convergence and networking will lead to a transformation in the nature and expectations of the television set itself� (Cunningham and Turner eds, 2002: 183). What then will happen to computers, it seems that the future of convergent technology will see homes with only one device to encompass all media platforms.
SMS voting was extremely popular and increased audience interactivity. Cunningham and Turner (eds, 2002: 86) state, “as media technologies converge and as digital forms of access and delivery offer audiences even more ways to engage with the media, the role of the media in people’s lives has never been more important.� This wireless form of communication is yet another convergent avenue, bringing audiences to a higher interactive platform. Mobile phones allow for immediate communication to people all over the world and attribute to the success of shows such as Big Brother who rely heavily on the convergence of media. Another example is how some official web sites invite the audience to vote and decide what is being broadcasted. For example, viewers can have their say on what video will be showed on MTV, which program will be broadcasted later on Nickelodeon, or which game ESPN will showcase through online voting. However, direct audience influence on television programming has been somewhat limited and principally under producer control. (Deery, 2003: 168)
It is important to stress that convergence seems to be a condition of all contemporary media and media technologies; all contemporary media can be associated with other media forms and the boundary between them are getting less clear as new technology developments enters the market. New technologies that allow convergence between televisions and computers have been developed, however, it is still unclear whether these technological devices will be primarily television sets with computer functions (TVPCs), or more like computers with television reception facilities (PCTVs) due to a lack of industry standards, and the fact that their final form will depend on consumer reaction (Stipp, 1998, 18), but given that it is difficult to send broadcast-quality video over the Internet and that television is more familiar and accessible technology, what will likely become standard in the near future is a television device with web content. Microsoft purchase of Web-TV, now MSN TV, is a good example of this; MSN TV is based on one device (television) to encompass all media platforms. A set top box and a monthly subscription is all you need to access Internet from your television set. Whatever the final configuration, the convergence will result in a modification of televisual content, in large measure because the new technology will alter the way television communicates with its viewers (Deery, 2003: 161).
The industry convergence is moving forward, although at a slower pace than many predicted. But clear signs can be seen on the convergence between the Internet and television: under pressure of the participatory online environment, “producers have begun to recast television programming. Though tentative, these trials go beyond a largely stylistic imitation of the Web, as when the TV screen displays split screens and multiple banners – the so-called CNN effect� (Deery, 2003: 162).
A couple of year ago, it seemed that telephone companies were about to become major television players who would pave the interactive TV lane on the electronic superhighway, but that did not happen. However, a new technology called triple play is under development worldwide and the technology will offer television services, telephony and Internet through the telephone line. Broadcasting and telecommunications have historically been distinct, but with the introduction of pay TV, new kinds of companies emerged: telecommunications companies emerged with media companies to form subscriber based pay television companies (Barr, 2000: 22), which delivers the signals through either cable, satellite or microwave.
Interactive television (ITV) can be defined as “TV that is controlled by the viewer, whether this implies interprogram or intraprogram decision making capabilities� (Hodge 1995:3). There has been talk of interactive television of some sort or another, and even though there has been a slow progress, it is not as radical as analysts predicted. The remote control, VCR, pay-per-view, early teletext services like the British Ceefax, and now digital TV and PVRs (such as TiVo) has each contributed to make television more convergent and interactive- one such company specialising in this specific field is Open TV. One issue concerning many large media companies is where this interactive television will leave advertisers? Viewers having the power to watch only what they want to watch, TiVo letting people record favourite programs minus the ads? The advertising industry will change. It's just a question of how quickly and to what extent. The television is, in these days, also increasingly used as a monitor for other media such as game consoles (PlayStation, Xbox, Game cube etc.), DVDs and VCRs. Furthermore, video on demand (VOD) has a high degree of interactivity between the viewer and the material being viewed by having the potential of providing individual television viewers virtually on the spot access to a wide range of recorded movies, video programs, games, information and other services.
Peter Hawkins 14:09, 23 Aug 2004 (EST) Simen Sjoelli 14:11, 23 Aug 2004 (EST) Alison Costello 14:12, 23 Aug 2004 (EST)
