NewsMan
07-02-2004, 12:15 PM
<SNIP>
....Chisholm - now Foxtel's chairman and a Telstra director - has never been
a man prone to understatement.
"We're going through a technological revolution at the turn of the century,"
he insists. "It's the equivalent of the industrial revolution at the end of
the last century."
So will it really be a revolution - or a more sophisticated version of the
same old stuff? Will a lot more Australians be willing to pay for the
difference? Will digital pay TV, with 130 channels and more to come, finally
challenge the dominance of the free-to-air networks? And will the confused
consumer be able at last to use just one remote control to easily record and
watch whatever they want?
That leads directly to a more fundamental issue for the future. Foxtel will
also be trying to use this new service to try to transform itself into the
gatekeeper of the digital era for everyone else. Given the shareholders
involved - with Telstra at 50 per cent and News Ltd and PBL at 25 per cent
each - this tactic hardly comes as a shock. But it would certainly mean that
for all the talk about new media, it still features the same old players in
firm control. It's the seemingly immutable law of media in Australia.
"Foxtel will be the gatekeeper," says Chisholm confidently. "It has all
these channels, it has all this technological capability and it's in
digital, and the networks can't match it."
Perhaps not. Yet for all the hoopla about the brave new world of interactive
TV, many of the ideas that have caught the imagination are likely to remain
marginal. Yes, viewers may soon be able to order their pizzas or their cars
while they watch the screen or play video games and quizzes or vote on
issues or performances. But based on the British experience, most won't
spend too much time or money doing that, certainly for the first few years
at least. Nor, unlike the British, are Australians allowed to gamble via
their television sets.
Chisholm, however, is convinced that "sports active" will be a significant
draw - allowing viewers to switch camera angles and games and call up sports
statistics at the press of a button. Imagine, for example, having the eight
games of the Australian open on the screen at once and switching to the most
exciting at will. News junkies will be able to flick between screens and
order up the big news stories on screen or in print.
Others are far more sceptical about how much that capability will be used by
most viewers after the expiry of the "wow factor" - the initial excitement
at what's possible...........
--
Details:
http://afr.com/premium/articles/2004/02/06/1075854061557.html
More news:
http://www.auspaytv.com.au/forums/ipdl.php
***
Seeing a murder on television can help work off one's antagonisms. And if
you haven't any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some.
-- Alfred Hitchcock
....Chisholm - now Foxtel's chairman and a Telstra director - has never been
a man prone to understatement.
"We're going through a technological revolution at the turn of the century,"
he insists. "It's the equivalent of the industrial revolution at the end of
the last century."
So will it really be a revolution - or a more sophisticated version of the
same old stuff? Will a lot more Australians be willing to pay for the
difference? Will digital pay TV, with 130 channels and more to come, finally
challenge the dominance of the free-to-air networks? And will the confused
consumer be able at last to use just one remote control to easily record and
watch whatever they want?
That leads directly to a more fundamental issue for the future. Foxtel will
also be trying to use this new service to try to transform itself into the
gatekeeper of the digital era for everyone else. Given the shareholders
involved - with Telstra at 50 per cent and News Ltd and PBL at 25 per cent
each - this tactic hardly comes as a shock. But it would certainly mean that
for all the talk about new media, it still features the same old players in
firm control. It's the seemingly immutable law of media in Australia.
"Foxtel will be the gatekeeper," says Chisholm confidently. "It has all
these channels, it has all this technological capability and it's in
digital, and the networks can't match it."
Perhaps not. Yet for all the hoopla about the brave new world of interactive
TV, many of the ideas that have caught the imagination are likely to remain
marginal. Yes, viewers may soon be able to order their pizzas or their cars
while they watch the screen or play video games and quizzes or vote on
issues or performances. But based on the British experience, most won't
spend too much time or money doing that, certainly for the first few years
at least. Nor, unlike the British, are Australians allowed to gamble via
their television sets.
Chisholm, however, is convinced that "sports active" will be a significant
draw - allowing viewers to switch camera angles and games and call up sports
statistics at the press of a button. Imagine, for example, having the eight
games of the Australian open on the screen at once and switching to the most
exciting at will. News junkies will be able to flick between screens and
order up the big news stories on screen or in print.
Others are far more sceptical about how much that capability will be used by
most viewers after the expiry of the "wow factor" - the initial excitement
at what's possible...........
--
Details:
http://afr.com/premium/articles/2004/02/06/1075854061557.html
More news:
http://www.auspaytv.com.au/forums/ipdl.php
***
Seeing a murder on television can help work off one's antagonisms. And if
you haven't any antagonisms, the commercials will give you some.
-- Alfred Hitchcock