Introduction

In the 1960s and 1970s, there was a rapid retreat of US firms from consumer electronics markets under intense competition from Japan. The US consumer electronics industry was in a very weak position in the early 1980s. The US semiconductor industry was having increased difficulty competing with the larger and more integrated Japanese electronics concerns. When the European Community reacted negatively in 1986 to a Japanese effort to have its version of HDTV technology recognized as an international standard, many Americans in information technology industries looked to the US government to respond with special “industrial policies” for HDTV. Why such policies were proposed but for the most part not adopted in the United States is one of the main questions to be addressed in this chapter. This chapter also begins to explore the reasons why the Federal Communications Commission recommended rejection of the Japanese HDTV standard and adoption instead of a digital TV (DTV) standard in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The HDTV issue comes to the United States

The HDTV issue appeared on the national agenda when NHK asked the Department of State in March 1985 to support its system as an international HDTV standard. NHK and other national actors also approached a variety of broadcasters and video production organizations to find out whether they would support the system. Initially, these groups were favorable toward the Japanese system. However, certain difficulties arose which prompted a reexamination of that earlier stand.