New Television, Old Politics
The Transition to Digital TV in the United States and Britain

This book studies the transition from analog to digital TV in the US and Britain.

Hernan Galperin (Author)

9780521823999, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 24 May 2004

328 pages, 1 b/w illus. 10 tables
23.5 x 16 x 2.9 cm, 0.586 kg

'This is an important contribution to the debate on PSB that will also be profitably studies by those concerned with the wider issue of the cultural impact of the free market.' Political Studies Review

This book examines the economic, political, and technological forces that are shaping the future of broadcasting in advanced industrialized nations by comparing the transition from analog to digital TV in the US and Britain. Digital TV involves a major reordering of the broadcast sector that requires governments to rethink governance tools for the digital media era. By looking at how the transition is unfolding in these nations, the book uncovers the political underpinnings of the emerging governance regime for digital communications and explores the implications of the transition for the development of the Information Society in the US and Europe. The findings challenge much conventional wisdom about media deregulation and the globalization of communications. The transition to digital TV has not weakened but rather reinforced government control over broadcasting. Moreover, contrary to what many globalization theories would predict, it has reinforced preexisting differences in the organization of media across nations.

List of figures and tables
Preface and acknowledgements
List of acronyms and abbreviations
Part I. A Political Economy of Digital TV: 1. Introduction
2. Why digital TV?
Part II. The American Road to Digital TV: 3. The genesis of broadcast regulation in the United States
4. HDTV comes to America
5. A new bargain
6. A long journey
Part III. The British Road to Digital TV: 7. The European context
8. The birth and evolution of analog TV in the United Kingdom
9. Being first: the Digital TV race
10. Murdoch phobia?
11. Digital TV and the new Labour
Part IV. New Television, Old Politics: 12. One goal, many paths
13. Explaining national variations in digital TV policies
14. Conclusion: the regulation of digital communications and the resilience of national regimes
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Media, information & communication industries [KNT], Political economy [KCP]