Pressing the red button: Consumers and digital television

Abstract

The government intends to switch over all UK television transmissions from analogue to digital by 2010. But where do consumers stand on digital? Currently less than 60 per cent of the population claims to be aware of the plan for switchover. The key driver of take‐up for viewers who have already made the change is the desire for multichannel television rather than for digital per se. Between one‐tenth and one‐fifth of the population say they will never go digital. A key tool for digital television viewers is the electronic programme guide (EPG), which enables them to navigate around the many channels available and access interactive services. Concerns about the power of EPG operators to control the way in which programme information is made available to viewers led the commercial television regulator, the Independent Television Commission (ITC), to commission research into how EPGs influence viewing. This found that over a third of digital viewers (38 per cent) often used the EPG to decide what to watch. But respondents were not always aware from the EPG which channels were new: over three‐quarters (77 per cent) were interested in having them placed in their own section on the EPG or otherwise highlighted. A much‐quoted feature of digital television is interactivity, but this has not been a main driver of take‐up. Text and games appear the most popular interactive features. In the digital future, public service channels must be given due prominence on EPGs. However, digital technology may spell major changes for public service broadcasting. And it is still not clear how fully many viewers have grasped the implications of the digital television age. The chapter explores the notion that the very nature of channels may change as devices such as personal video recorders enable viewers to assemble their own programme schedules from the wide range of services available.