Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
- PART I A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF 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
- PART IV NEW TELEVISION, OLD POLITICS
- References
- Index
3 - The Genesis of Broadcast Regulation in the United States
from PART II - THE AMERICAN ROAD TO DIGITAL TV
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Figures and Tables
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- List of Acronyms and Abbreviations
- PART I A POLITICAL ECONOMY OF 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
- PART IV NEW TELEVISION, OLD POLITICS
- References
- Index
Summary
Policymaking in the United States does not come about easily. For any new law, policy initiative, or regulation to be passed, legislative and judicial obstacles have to be overcome, and side payments made to opponents in transparent ways. In this respect, the very existence of a government plan to migrate from analog to digital TV is noteworthy. The American broadcasting system, unlike those of Europe and most other nations, has historically functioned on a commercial basis. The state certainly organized the structure of the market and regulated services, but operational decisions were always left to private companies, partly because of a general distaste for government-run corporations in America, and partly because of long-running concerns about state propaganda and the separation of government and the media. While these structural factors militated against government implementation of a transition strategy, the political context of the mid-1980s made it even more improbable. Following a general trend of market reforms in telecommunications and other industries, broadcasting regulation was progressively scaled back in most areas since the first Reagan administration. But if one would expect to find minimal government involvement in the switchover to digital TV in the United States, quite the contrary has happened. Administrative decisions about technological standards, resource allocation, equipment design, and the timing of the switchover have critically shaped the American migration path, probably more so than in most other industrialized nations.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- New Television, Old PoliticsThe Transition to Digital TV in the United States and Britain, pp. 55 - 70Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004