Multichannel Television Research Articles

Growth of the Multichannel Television Broadcasting Industry and Structural Changes in Media Markets

Growth of the Multichannel Television Broadcasting Industry and Structural Changes in Media Markets

Fifty Years of Drama on Israeli Children’s Television

This article analyzes the changes in drama series in the first five decades (1966–2016) of Israeli children’s television. Based on interviews with 27 central producers, this cultural-historical study seeks to explain the significance attributed to children’s drama over the years. Early children’s drama series in Israel were instructional or educational, but they also sought to control the representation of childhood under the direct supervision of the state. The neo-liberal privatization process in Israeli society led to the creation of locally produced, Hebrew-speaking daily dramas on private channels for children. In the multiscreen environment created by the age of multichannel television and digital media, original Israeli daily drama shows functioned as a central branding tool for children’s channels. The article contends that these shows became one of the producers’ key answers to the changes in children’s viewing habits and, more particularly, linear television’s strategy for success in a world of multiple online screens.

The Welfare Effects of Vertical Integration in Multichannel Television Markets

We investigate the welfare effects of vertical integration of regional sports networks (RSNs) with programming distributors in U.S. multichannel television markets. Vertical integration can enhance efficiency by reducing double marginalization and increasing carriage of channels, but can also harm welfare due to foreclosure and raising rivals' costs incentives. We estimate a structural model of viewership, subscription, distributor pricing, and affiliate fee bargaining using a rich dataset on the U.S. cable and satellite television industry (2000-2010). We use these estimates to analyze the impact of simulated vertical mergers and de-mergers of RSNs on competition and welfare, and examine the efficacy of regulatory policies introduced by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to address competition concerns in this industry.

TV Milestones Series

TV Milestones Series Derek Kompare (bio) Batman by Matt Yockey. Wayne State University Press. 2014. $15.64 paper; $9.99 e-book. 160pages. Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In by Ken Feil. Wayne State University Press. 2014. $15.99 paper; $9.99 e-book. 168pages. 24 by John McCullough. Wayne State University Press. 2014. $15.99 paper; $9.99 e-book. 144pages. The L Word By Margaret T. McFadden. Wayne State University Press. 2014. $15.99 paper; $9.99 e-book. 152pages. Short monographs based on single films, TV series, or video games have been a prominent format in media studies for the past decade or so. They’re popular with publishers and scholars, though for different reasons. Publishers can build a potentially long-running series around a particular medium or genre, and scholars can carry out a relatively deep, multifaceted analysis on a single text. That said, as a form longer than an article but shorter than a traditional book, they also have their own potential pitfalls. While the singular focus has its advantages, the format certainly isn’t boundless. The word count of thirty-five thousand provides enough room to develop multiple points but not enough to dig too deeply or too broadly. Similarly, the understandable remit from publishers to be widely accessible (to undergraduates as well as interested fans of the text) necessitates clearer writing, including the brief treatment of theoretical [End Page 168] concepts that would otherwise be expanded in more advanced work. As someone who’s written one of these, I appreciate how difficult it can be to balance the depth, breadth, accessibility, and brevity necessary to cover a long-running TV series in this format. With twenty-eight titles published since 2004, the TV Milestones series from Wayne State University Press has been one of the most prolific and consistent of this type of series. It has covered a wide array of mostly US TV shows dating from the 1950s through the 2000s. Despite the great variety of genres and authors, the series editors, Barry Keith Grant and Jeannette Sloniowski, have effectively managed each volume’s usual mix of historical, industrial, and cultural contexts, always coupled with extensive textual analysis. These books are effective introductions to key television series (particularly for the classroom) and provide intriguing analysis, even for those familiar with their subjects. This review concerns four of the latest volumes, representing two distinct but, in retrospect, similar historical eras in American television. Matt Yockey’s analysis of Batman (ABC, 1966–1968) and Ken Feil’s investigation of Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (NBC, 1968– 1973) examine how the turbulent cultural changes of the late 1960s to early 1970s were managed at the peak of the classic network era by television producers and networks. Each of these series briefly dominated popular culture, and both were emblematic of television’s political dance between appealing to a younger, more iconoclastic counterculture and retaining an older, more conservative mainstream. The other two books, John McCullough’s study of 24 (Fox, 2001–2010, 2014) and Margaret T. McFadden’s exploration of The L Word (Showtime, 2004–2009), focus on the more recent era of multichannel television, fragmenting audiences, and divergent industrial and cultural priorities. Appropriately, neither of these series aired on one of the traditional “big three” so dominant forty years earlier. However, as with the 1960s, the first decade of the twenty-first century was also a television era of shifting ranges of expression (in both form and content), as television producers and networks strategized to appeal not so much to a mainstream but to the extended loyalty of particular viewers. The L Word and 24 are radically different texts, yet both could have flourished only in the divided television ecosystem of the 2000s–2010s. The TV adaptation of Batman blazed bright and faded quickly for just over two years, but Matt Yockey’s long-needed volume rescues the iconic series from its usual footnoted treatment in television history as either a bold experimental failure or a sign of mid-1960s cultural vapidity. Yockey displays a thorough understanding of the ramifications of this particular comic book character, the status of television, and the issue of “mass” culture...

“A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them” : Electronic media industries concentration trends in Israel 1984–2013

This study takes a holistic view of the audiovisual industries in Israel and describes the trends in ownership between 1984 and 2013. Market shares in 10 industries are described: broadcast television, radio, multichannel television platforms, cable and satellite delivered channels, broadband access, mobile communications, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), search engines and news websites. The data demonstrate that the Israeli system has come full circle from a government owned and operated monopoly in both the conduit and content markets it is heading toward new forms of non-competitive structures, with the rise of vertically integrated media conglomerates and highly concentrated content delivery systems.

The Four Heads of Film4

There have been four key figures responsible for Channel 4's film production activities since the Channel's inception in 1982. David Rose, David Aukin, Paul Webster and Tessa Ross have each ensured that Channel 4 retains its key commitment to promoting British film culture, as envisioned by its first chief executive Jeremy Isaacs. They have presided over film and drama through changes within the corporate structure and financing of the Channel, through deregulation of the television industry and the expansion of the independent production sector, through the growth of the digital economy and multi-channel television, and through changes in the funding landscape and the fortunes of the UK film industry. As vital contributors to the film culture they have each expressed their own individual passion for and commitment to British film, have championed establish film-makers and nurtured new talent, and have worked tirelessly to advance British film on the world stage and to broaden its domestic audience base. Occupying a unique position at the interface of the television and film industries, and between the cultural patronage of public service broadcasting and international co-production finance, they share a rare skill above all: an eye for a good script.

Britain's Channel 4: A TV Provider Caught Between Private Sector Funding and Its Cultural Mission

This article, which first appeared in Media Perspektiven 1 (1987), is published here for the first time in English. It offers an enlightening contemporary perspective, from the then German Federal Republic, on the innovation in European broadcasting which Channel 4 represented. It outlines the policy context which gave rise to the UK's fourth television channel and describes its unique, hybrid character as a commercial station funded by advertising revenue with a public service remit. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of Channel 4's commissioning structure and identifies significant examples of its innovative programming, paying particular attention to its support for independent film. That emphasis is noteworthy since it was West German television's film-funding mechanism that provided the model on which Film on Four was based. The article recognises Channel 4's commitment to catering for minority audiences, to enabling broader access to programme-making and to commissioning work that was experimental in form and content. It is generous in suggesting that such a risk-taking cultural enterprise was only possible within the UK's mature and highly developed broadcasting ecology, but it remains cautious (perhaps presciently) of its sustainability in the expanding commercial marketplace of multi-channel television.

Rethinking the Commitment to Free, Local Television

One of the most enduring tenets of U.S. television policy has been the commitment to localism. I suggest that the FCC's localism policy can be disaggregated into four, more specific commitments: (1) the preference for locally oriented over nationally oriented programming, (2) the preference for free (i.e., advertising-supported) over pay television, (3) the preference for single-channel over multi-channel television technologies, and (4) the preference for incumbents over new entrants and new technologies. I then analyze each of these commitments in light of what is perhaps the most distinctive feature of the television industry, which is the fact that its cost structure gives television programming many of the qualities of a public good, and conclude that each of these four commitments is fundamentally flawed. I then employ the public goods analysis I develop to critique the manner in which policy makers are regulating conventional television broadcasting, cable television, direct broadcast satellite systems (DBS), digital television, and third-generation wireless devices (3G).

‘I Want My MTS’: The Development of US Stereo Television

This article examines the development of stereo television broadcasting in America, in the wake of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling on Multichannel Television Sound (MTS) in 1984. It makes the case for understanding stereo broadcasting as a landmark special effect, playing a pivotal role in fashioning the medium's transformation over the last twenty-five years, helping to usher in an era of ‘home cinema’ and significantly enhancing the experiential and aesthetic coordinates of television programming.

Vertical Integration in Multichannel Television Markets: A Study of Regional Sports Networks

Regional sports networks (RSNs) have become among the most important and expensive programming carried by multi-channel video programming distributors (MVPDs), many of which have acquired RSNs in whole or in part. Under Nash bargaining theory, vertical integration creates incentives to charge downstream distribution rivals license fees in excess of what an independent RSN would negotiate. We show that the Nash framework also implies that this premium increases with the size of the MVPD’s local downstream footprint, and we estimate a reduced-form econometric model of RSN affiliate fees, which yields results consistent with theory. Finally, we discuss various policy implications.

Modelling the welfare effects of network neutrality regulation: A response to Caves’s comment

In this issue, Caves (2012) has provided a comment to our paper (Economides and Tag, 2012) attempting to take our monopoly model to data. Based on data on content providers’ and ISPs’ profits in an oligopolistic market in the US, Caves attempts to draw conclusions on whether the parameter ranges in our model identified as generating a total surplus enhancement from network neutrality are reasonable. While we believe that taking a theoretical model to data is generally a good idea if done right, we must urge caution in drawing policy conclusions based on this effort. Economides and Tag (2012) was developed to show as clearly as possible a mechanism through which network neutrality regulation could potentially be warranted based on cross-group externalities. Because of this, the model contains simplifications of reality, especially of demand and cost functions, so as to make it tractable and produce closed form results. It was not intended to be taken directly to the data. Specifically, we assumed very simple demand and cost structures that do not necessarily correspond to actual data. To convincingly go from theory to empirical work, one would need to specify a detailed and much more realistic structural model of the broadband and content markets in a specific region and then attempt to estimate the parameter values of that model (such as, for example, Crawford and Yurukoglu (2012) do for the US multichannel television market). In economic research, combining theoretical and empirical work is useful for increasing our understanding of the world. But different theoretical models serve different purposes, and it is important to be careful of which predictions to take away from the models. The value and purpose

Is digital boom spelling cerebral doom?

Byline: T. Sathyanarayana Rao, Vishal. Indla, Indla. Reddy There was a time when we started and ended our day by looking at somebody we love. In today's digital world, for most of us, our day starts and ends with a gadget. Our brains are under the influence of an ever-expanding world of gadgetry: Hi-definition multichannel television, video games, internet, wireless networks, i-pads, Bluetooth links - the list is never ending. The current explosion of digital technology is not only changing the way we live and communicate but is rapidly and immensely altering our brain. Daily exposure to high technology and search engines like Google and Yahoo stimulates alteration of the neurons, gradually strengthening new neural circuits in our brain while weakening old ones. As we rely on the Internet and other forms of technology for almost everything from entertainment to political discussion to even social reform as well as communication with friends and co-workers, our brain are evolving at a speed like never before. Economic experts, though point to technology's positive impact on productivity and standard of living. The efficiency of the Web reduces the cost of transactions needed for producing and distributing many products and services. It's easier for consumers to shop for an item among many vendors, which allows for greater savings, choice, and shopping convenience. Routine transactions, such as making a mortgage payment or transmitting financial information, require less time and expense using Web- based technology. [sup][1] As the brain shifts its focus toward new technological skills, it drifts away from fundamental social skills, such as reading facial expressions during conversation or grasping the emotional context of a subtle gesture. A Stanford University study found that for every hour we spend on our computers, traditional face-to-face interaction time with other people drops by nearly thirty minutes. [sup][2] With the weakening of the brain's neural circuitry controlling human contact, our social interactions may become awkward, and we tend to misinterpret, and even miss subtle, non-verbal messages. In short, the modern digital world could well be altering our human identity. It is also interesting to note that just as evolution has programmed men and women to behave differently, there are differences even in the way they use and respond to technology, and a recent survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project shows that women are more likely to email friends and family to share concerns, forward jokes, or plan events. They value the way the Internet enriches their relationships. Women tend to seek diet and health information on the Web and to worry more about criminal Internet threats. They are also more likely to download online map directions than are men. By contrast, men frequently log on to the Web for news and financial updates, sports scores, and video games. The study also showed that men tend to be more tech-savvy, more confident in using search engines, and more likely to try new gadgets and software. [sup][3] Today's young people in their teens and twenties, who have been dubbed Digital Natives (a term coined by the US writer Marc Prensky), have never known a world without computers, twenty-four-hour TV news, Internet, and cell phones. Many of these natives rarely enter a library, let alone look something up in a traditional encyclopedia; they use Google, Yahoo, and other online search engines. [sup][4] It's almost as if something hasn't really happened until it's been posted on Facebook or YouTube. The neural networks in these brains differ dramatically from those of digital immigrants: people who came to the computer age as adults but whose basic brain wiring was laid down during a time when direct social interaction was the norm. Digital natives tend to have shorter attention spans, and this young high-tech generation often finds television too boring when simply watched on its own. …

The Welfare Effects of Bundling in Multichannel Television Markets

We measure how the bundling of television channels affects short-run welfare. We estimate an industry model of viewership, demand, pricing, bundling, and input-market bargaining using data on ratings, purchases, prices, bundles, and input costs. We conduct simulations of à la carte policies that require distributors to offer individual channels for sale to consumers. We estimate that negotiated input costs rise by 103.0 percent under à la carte. These higher input costs offset consumer benefits from purchasing individual channels. Mean consumer and total surplus change by an estimated —5.4 to 0.2 percent and —1.7 to 6.0 percent, respectively. (JEL D12, L11, L51, L82, M31)

Features of active stand-alone repeaters for synchronous DVB - T broadcasting networks

The work describes the results of analysis and approaches to creating a national network of digital terrestrial television broadcasting standard DVB-T stand-alone repeater with an output power 25 watts, which can provide highquality TV signal in populated areas of an uncertain reception or in areas of radioshadow. Using the new circuit solutions in the field of microwave electronics and telecommunications, as well as solar energy can be achieved by maintenance of individual settlements with minimal performance and energy consumption. These active transponders will create conditions to cover the entire territory of Ukraine by multichannel television services of acceptable

Audience duplication and its determinants: a study in the multichannel and multiculture television market in Guangzhou, China

This study examines audience duplication, the extent to which the audience of one program also watches the other, and its determinants. Using peoplemeter data from Guangzhou, a multichannel and multicultural television market in China, the study tests the intertwining effects of media structural factors and audience preference factors on audience duplication levels of program pairs. The results show significant effects of the two types of factors. A regression model was established in which these two types of factors together explained 59% of the total variance in audience duplication.

The influence of family viewing preferences on television consumption in the era of multichannel services

It is widely argued that the rise of multichannel television services, together with other ‘new media,’ have led to a decline in family television viewing and the emergence of more individualized media culture within the household. This study, however, argues that family viewing can be treated as a variable shaping people's use and evaluations of the medium. More specifically, the survey data analysis focuses on how individuals' perceptions of family television viewing preferences influence their consumption and evaluation of both conventional mass broadcast television and multichannel television services in Hong Kong. The results show that consumption and evaluation of mass broadcast television relate positively to preference for family viewing and negatively to perceived family television preference heterogeneity. Meanwhile, multichannel television service subscription relates positively to perceived family television preference heterogeneity. Yet actual consumption and evaluation of the medium remains positively related to preference for family viewing, thus pointing towards the dual nature of the medium.

Next Generation Optical Access Network: Standardization Outline and Key Technologies for Co-existence with Legacy Systems

Users are increasingly demanding broadband services, and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) is the main technology to answer these demands. Gigabit-class passive optical network (PON) systems, IEEE802.3ah GE-PON [1] or ITU-T G.984 G-PON [2] have been widely deployed and used by many network operators. The number of FTTH users in Asia is increasing and has exceeded 30 million [3]. Especially in Japan the number of FTTH users surpassed the number of digital subscriber line (DSL) users in 2008. Recently, the number of FTTH users topped 15 million, and the ratio of FTTH services among broadband services went above 50 percent [4]. This means FTTH supports most Japanese broadband services. With the emerging applications such as multi-channel high-density television (HDTV) distribution, broad bandwidths wider than those of the current system will be required. To respond to wider bandwidth demand, several kinds of technologies such as 10-Gbps class time division multiplexing (TDM), wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) [5], optical code-division multiple access (OCDMA) [6] and orthogonal frequency-division multiple access (OFDMA) [7], [8] have been developed and discussed as next generation PON (NG-PON) technologies. As 10 Gb/s Ethernet [9], which was approved in 2002, has been already widely used and 10-Gbps TDM technologies have become mature, the 10-Gbps-class TDM PON system is the most attractive candidate for NG-PON systems. Therefore, standardization development organizations (SDOs) have been discussing 10-Gbps-class TDM PON standards. Recently, the IEEE802.3 committee approved the 10G-EPON standard [10] and ITU-T has been developing an XG-PON standard [11]. This paper reviews NG-PON standardization trends fo-

High speeds at high speed

ET a broadcasting link between radio station and radio car; a global satellite navigation signal tracking the location of a ship; or an electric railway signal alerting train drivers about the status of the line ahead. A more recent trend has seen the design of transport applications that rely on a variety of communications techniques. The phenomenon is the result of the inevitable replication in the transport sector of the convergence that has occurred within the telecoms sector. Convergence in communications is happening on two fronts: at the network and the device levels. Those operators that used to provide phone services to residential and business customers now provide anything from Internet to fixed or mobile voice, mobile data, leased line, IT, network security, multichannel television or home networking services. And mobile phones that used one radio frequency to communicate with cellular base stations are now sophisticated handheld computers featuring several radios for multi-band cellular service, Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth access and GPS tracking, as well as USB connectors for the wired transfer of content.

Multichannel television method for measuring geometric parameters of objects

The use of television devices for measuring geometric parameters of pipes using several television cameras set up at fixed distances in space is considered. The method provided is based on automatic calibration and processing algorithms providing independence of measurement results from the distance to an object and its movement in space.

American Cultural Primacy in a New Media Order

The paradigmatic shift from cultural imperialism to globalization in international communication has transformed the research agenda of the discipline. While new issues have come to the fore, others, such as the American pre-eminence in the world media market, tend to be ignored. This article revisits the old question of American dominance from the perspective of the new paradigm and suggests replacing the concept of cultural imperialism with that of cultural primacy. This shift allows us to analyse a salient fact of contemporary international communication without taking on board the assumptions and ideological biases of the cultural imperialism thesis. The article contrasts the limited reach of European media players with the global scope of US conglomerates and shows the extent of American dominance of the European audiovisual market. It argues that US-based media groups are set to become yet more prominent in the era of multichannel television because they have successfully adopted localization of content as an international strategy. The article concludes that to preserve consumer choice and programming diversity, European public broadcasters should forsake their nation-centric perspective, adapt their organizational structures to the international nature of the multichannel universe, and renew their combined efforts to launch thematic channels in genres in which they could make a significant contribution.