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ACMA wants to know what you think about Free to Air’s future

What do we want from digital television when the switch-over is completed at the end of 2013?

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The media watchdog is calling for comment from industry and public on the future of Free to Air TV.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority is looking ahead to the landscape after the transition to digital television is completed at the end of 2013.

Future change could include improvements in transmission technologies, data compression and new physical characteristics of receivers such as 3D and ultra high definition screen formats, and more channels of entertainment.

“The ACMA is seeking to garner industry and community comment on the future evolution of digital terrestrial television,” said ACMA Acting Chairman, Richard Bean.

“We’re interested in the drivers of future technological change. Starting the discussion now means the ACMA can consider what, if any, action it might take in the short term to assist in delivering benefits over the next decade and beyond.”

More info is available on ACMA’s website.

Submissions to the discussion paper close on 30 March 2012.

28 Responses

  1. I would like to see more channels on Freeview, as is the case in the UK. And better utilisation of the HD spectrum, i.e. not wasting HD bandwidth on mostly non-HD content..

  2. As long as they continue to push shows like Marry My Boy, Excess Baggage, My Kitchen Rules, Biggest Loser and Farmer Wants a Wife, I honestly don’t care what happens to FTA. It’s become more of a joke over the last Ten-plus years than I can bare, so it’s future is the last thing on my mind!

  3. I’m not keen on this section on page 21:

    “Following the completion of switchover and consequent/associated lapsing of legislated HD content quotas, broadcasters might choose to convert their HD channels to SD to free up capacity. This would guarantee no decrease in the number of services, though potentially a loss of picture quality for some services”

    Don’t give them ideas! 😉

  5. @William-3D was a gimmick that caused a lot of people to be conned into buying 3D TVs. It’s dead. The analogue spectrum is not going to be used for TV. What’s being used for digital now is it. There will be no more channels.
    FTA has killed itself with way too much commercial time per hour, annoying pup-ups and watermarks, programs not starting on time and endless out-of-sequence repeats. As for the 11, GO, GEM, 7TWO etc., can’t recall the last time I watched anything on any of them. Endless recycling of the same old antiques.

  6. is this so we can get more channels like 4ME? Because until that channel came along I had no idea there were so many variations on the steam mop! What a life-changing channel..?!?

    The only thing they need to do is make capacity to have the primary channel in both HD/SD and then they can downgrade GEM, 7mate, ONE and ABC24 to SD channels.

  7. I agree with Ann. Before they launch any more channels please make sure we can receive the ones we already have. I don’t care about receiving them in HD – a clear SD picture without sound dropouts and pixellating would do me!

  8. FTA: top programs like Sherlock (the series), and David Attenborough documentaries are rendered unwatchable by multiple moronic ads inserted every few minutes.
    Light-weight enjoyable programs such as Modern Families and NCIS are repeated so many times you turn off them.
    Other shows like Desperate Housewives are so far behind that in this case 7 begins season 8 just 10 days before the final episode is aired overseas!
    To me, FTA (as in 7,9 and 10, and their other stations) is already dead.
    ABC and SBS are still there, hanging on desperately, sadly with very little genuine entertainment left. Good for the news.

  9. alex murray- there used to be a 24hr Sports channel but I don’t reckon they will end up doing it. How about Seven launch a channel thats about tennis while Nine or TEN could launch a 24hr Movie Channel

  10. @William – that is certainly not going to happen. 3D is a dead duck and I’m not sure where you think these many new channels are going to fit spectrum-wise, or where all the extra content is going to come from.

    Apart from perennials such as advertising accurate start and finish times, the only thing we need to do ASAP is switch to MPEG-4 Part 10 and ensure networks each have enough bandwidth to be able to broadcast 3 channels in 1080 HD. MPEG-4 in various forms has been out since 1999, I have no idea why we went with MPEG-2 other than possibly to save a few dollars at the start.

  13. I think its going to be brilliant and bringing out a 3D Channel for every network. I reckon straight after the Analogue Channels have been switched off they are going to launch so many channels that its going to be like foxtel.

  14. All the remaining FTA spectrum should be flogged off, and not just to Australian companies. Open up the market and let foreign companies be allowed to own a TV channel. This will greatly improve competition. Could you imagine the ABC scrambling for programming if the BBC had it’s own FTA channels. Or what Seven would do if NBC set up it’s network. Or Foxtel having a toe in FTA.
    Of course it would never happen but it’s good to dream.

  16. Why bother ACMA? It’s not like you do anything anyway. ACMA is useless.

    All i ask is for shows to start and finish on time. Apparently too difficult. If a network advertises a show is on 8.30 Wednesday all week, and then come Wednesday the show start at 8.41, i don’t care if they updated their EPG, that’s false advertising. They should be punished.

  22. Updating all channels to use MPEG 4 instead of MPEG 2 would be a great start. With the improved codec, we should be able to have enough bandwidth for all channels in HD. Will save much stressing at the networks trying to figure out if/when to switch their main channel to HD instead of one of their multi channels.

  24. How about more originally produced programming? That’s the main problem. The schedule is filled with old repeats of garbage when there is valuable room for more original local content, which would then in turn improve the industry…more jobs for writers, actors, presenters, production crew etc.

  25. For a start how about start broadcasting in HD instead for all new programs and live sport instead of wasting HD spectrum on ancient 4:3 material. Is it any wonder alot of people are sourcing the same content in native HD elsewhere that the Australian networks are not willing to show in HD.

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