Digital terrestrial television roll-out policies in Spain and the changing television scene in the context of analogue switch-off

Abstract

This article describes and analyses the digital terrestrial television roll-out polices developed and applied in Spain by conservative and socialist governments (Partido Popular [19962004] and Partido Socialista Obrero Espaol [20042010], respectively) from the end of the 1990s until the analogue switch-off in April 2010. It also considers, from national, regional and local perspectives, the implications of this digitalization process for the terrestrial television scene in Spain. Finally, it points to a number of pending public policy issues and potential market trends. As a result of this process, Spain has become one of the first large Western European countries with a predominantly terrestrial television model to switch off analogue broadcasts.