Photo by the awesome Grant Neufeld. It is unknown if he wielded the bat.Tonight most of Australia will turn on their televisions and watch ONE HD, a 24-hour digital sports channel, for the first time.
It's the first of a package of channels that Australia's free-to-air providers are putting together under the brand of Freeview.
They've formed Freeview, a not-for-profit company, to promote digital television and encourage Australians to buy into it. There will be TVs with Freeview stamped on them to make it easy.
Thing is, Broken Hill will not get ONE HD tonight, and is unlikely to receive any of the new channels in the foreseeable future, because it's a commercial venture, and our provider - Southern Cross GTS/BKN - can't afford to provide it.
There's a broad issue here - Australia is a wide and disparate land, and companies and Governments have proved time and again that they just don't know how to cope with it. More importantly, they don't care. Voters, viewers and wallets are concentrated in capital cities, so that's where the money flows.
Of course it's harder to provide for regional areas, but we're here, we always have been, and we can't sit in the too-hard basket forever.
Broken Hill will inevitably have a slow rate of digital television take-up because of this, and that fact could easily be stripped of context and used to justify future lack of infrastructure.
The take-up will be low because there is nothing substantial to watch here that cannot be received via an analogue set.
People will only switch to digital when there's something on it they want to watch. Why spend thousands on a new television for the slim reward of improved clarity? If all the shows are on digital, people will buy digital.
Although it's an obvious point, it's one that has been overlooked by the Freeview group itself. Despite promising 15 new channels, only the aptly-named ONE is ready to go at launch.
Given that the Government originally wanted analogue TV switched off entirely by the end of last year, that's pretty poor. It's unsurprising though, given that Australia's commercial networks have dragged their feet for years, trying to outlaw the internet, TiVo and any other digital bogeymen rather than face the reality that their business model may need to change.Freeview, interestingly, will not allow for the skipping of advertisements, a feature of TiVo and similar systems overseas. Freeview is way for commercial networks to make Australian viewers switch to digital on their terms. Given that, it's perplexing that so little effort has been put into the launch. Although for an audience that has for years suffered through a lack of homegrown programs and years-long waits for shows from overseas, being treated badly is probably nothing new at all.
It's the first of a package of channels that Australia's free-to-air providers are putting together under the brand of Freeview.
They've formed Freeview, a not-for-profit company, to promote digital television and encourage Australians to buy into it. There will be TVs with Freeview stamped on them to make it easy.
Thing is, Broken Hill will not get ONE HD tonight, and is unlikely to receive any of the new channels in the foreseeable future, because it's a commercial venture, and our provider - Southern Cross GTS/BKN - can't afford to provide it.
There's a broad issue here - Australia is a wide and disparate land, and companies and Governments have proved time and again that they just don't know how to cope with it. More importantly, they don't care. Voters, viewers and wallets are concentrated in capital cities, so that's where the money flows.
Of course it's harder to provide for regional areas, but we're here, we always have been, and we can't sit in the too-hard basket forever.
Broken Hill will inevitably have a slow rate of digital television take-up because of this, and that fact could easily be stripped of context and used to justify future lack of infrastructure.
The take-up will be low because there is nothing substantial to watch here that cannot be received via an analogue set.
People will only switch to digital when there's something on it they want to watch. Why spend thousands on a new television for the slim reward of improved clarity? If all the shows are on digital, people will buy digital.
Although it's an obvious point, it's one that has been overlooked by the Freeview group itself. Despite promising 15 new channels, only the aptly-named ONE is ready to go at launch.
Given that the Government originally wanted analogue TV switched off entirely by the end of last year, that's pretty poor. It's unsurprising though, given that Australia's commercial networks have dragged their feet for years, trying to outlaw the internet, TiVo and any other digital bogeymen rather than face the reality that their business model may need to change.Freeview, interestingly, will not allow for the skipping of advertisements, a feature of TiVo and similar systems overseas. Freeview is way for commercial networks to make Australian viewers switch to digital on their terms. Given that, it's perplexing that so little effort has been put into the launch. Although for an audience that has for years suffered through a lack of homegrown programs and years-long waits for shows from overseas, being treated badly is probably nothing new at all.
1 comment:
Like you said, nothing new. Are you on digital yet? I got my mum a set top box at the start of the year and she's loving the clarity of ABC and SBS alone. Plus there is that extra ABC channel.
I don't care for One HD and I'm annoyed that now anything I want to watch on Ten will never be HD because they deem sport is more important. I hate sport and I hate One/One HD. You can have it!
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