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
- PART III THE BRITISH ROAD TO DIGITAL TV
- 7 The European Context
- 8 The Birth and Evolution of Analog TV in the United Kingdom
- 9 Being First: The Digital TV Race
- 10 Murdoch Phobia?
- 11 Digital TV and the New Labour
- PART IV NEW TELEVISION, OLD POLITICS
- References
- Index
10 - Murdoch Phobia?
from PART III - THE BRITISH 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
- PART III THE BRITISH ROAD TO DIGITAL TV
- 7 The European Context
- 8 The Birth and Evolution of Analog TV in the United Kingdom
- 9 Being First: The Digital TV Race
- 10 Murdoch Phobia?
- 11 Digital TV and the New Labour
- PART IV NEW TELEVISION, OLD POLITICS
- References
- Index
Summary
Among the innovations introduced by the Broadcasting Act of 1996 was the division of tasks in the implementation of the transition strategy between the ITC and the OFTEL. While the ITC would allocate and enforce the two types of DTT licenses (programmer and multiplex operator), the act delegated the sensitive issue of set-top box standards and interoperability to OFTEL. The telecom regulator already had jurisdiction over certain aspects of analog TV (e.g., the provision of transmission services to commercial broadcasters), but it was now being called to play a much greater – and politically sensitive – role. Of course, the broadcasting regulator reacted angrily to such territorial invasion. The ITC began working on the licensing of DTT even before the final approval of the 1996 act. In May 1996 it launched an industry consultation on how to proceed with the licensing process, which included a first draft of both types of DTT licenses. This was mostly a technical document but nonetheless signaled that the ITC was ready to put the licensing of DTT on a fast track as required by government and incumbents. The Major administration supported an accelerated timetable and expressed its goal that licenses be awarded by early 1997. In order for the government to make a credible claim about having launched the first DTT platform in the world, it was important that the licenses be awarded before the 1997 general elections.
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- Chapter
- Information
- New Television, Old PoliticsThe Transition to Digital TV in the United States and Britain, pp. 186 - 208Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004