The impact of digitalization on the strategies of pay TV in Spain

Introduction. The landscape of the audiovisual market has dramatically changed over the last thirty years, and even more so since the implementation of digital terrestrial television throughout Europe. New suppliers of audiovisual content have appeared and a range of pay-per-view and free-to-air services now compete against one another. Methodology. After all the changes, we wonder if there is still space for pay TV and how the strategy of pay TV operators might be developed. To do so, we will analyse current offerings according to three key factors: business models based on revenue and offering, clients, and competitors. Conclusions. After data analysis, we conclude that in spite of the threats to pay television operators, pay TV will be the engine of change, and the willingness to pay will increase. Most of the popular free-to-air contents, will become premium content

An Approach for e-inclusion: Bringing illiterates and disabled people into play

In emergent economies, the continued process of digitalizing the ICTs, summed up with some sociocultural particularies and porvety, contributes to cleave the society into two groups: the connected and the increasingly more disconnected or socially excluded. However, efforts to effectively narrow this kind of divide transcends the provision of access to web and other digital networks, mainly if the attention is focused on people with disabilities and lack of literacy. For these social groups, accessibility and intelligibility are the key barriers to e-society. A manner to mitigate then is the objective of an ongoing research project in which we are engaged and that comprises the elaboration and application of a methodology for developing solutions to e-inclusion in Brazil. This paper presents the central aspects of such an appoach, focusing on some activities which go beyond the connectivity provision and may help the most “excludeds” in bridging the divide.En las economías emergentes, el continuo proceso de digitalización de las TICs, en adición a algunas particularidades socioculturales y la pobreza, contribuye a dividir la sociedad en dos grupos: los conectados y los cada vez más desconectados o socialmente excluidos. Sin embargo, esfuerzos para efectivamente estrechar esta división trasciende la provisión de acceso a la web y otras redes digitales, principalmente si la atención está enfocada a personas con discapacidades y analfabetismo. Para estos grupos sociales, la accesibilidad e inteligibilidad son barreras para el ingreso a una sociedad electrónica. Una manera de mitigar este problema es teniendo como objetivo una investigación de avanzada, la cual tenga un compromiso y contacto con la elaboración y aplicación de una metodología para el desarrollo de soluciones y de inclusión electrónica en Brasil. Este trabajo presenta los aspectos centrales de tal aproximación, enfoscándose en algunas actividades que van más allá de la conectividad, provisión y una posibilidad de conectar a los excluidos de éste sistemaIn emergent economies, the continued process of digitalizing the ICTs, summed up with some sociocultural particularies and porvety, contributes to cleave the society into two groups: the connected and the increasingly more disconnected or socially excluded. However, efforts to effectively narrow this kind of divide transcends the provision of access to web and other digital networks, mainly if the attention is focused on people with disabilities and lack of literacy. For these social groups, accessibility and intelligibility are the key barriers to e-society. A manner to mitigate then is the objective of an ongoing research project in which we are engaged and that comprises the elaboration and application of a methodology for developing solutions to e-inclusion in Brazil. This paper presents the central aspects of such an appoach, focusing on some activities which go beyond the connectivity provision and may help the most “excludeds” in bridging the divide

Modelagem de comunicação: considerando a complexidade em políticas de tecnologias digitais

Policies related to digital technologies tend to scarcely consider comprehensive communication models and the way information is actually generated and assimilated in a communicational process. Typically, models that describe communication is completely circumscribed by the technical dimension. In technology-mediated interaction, the effectiveness between the intention of a message and how it is received and understood by a user is fundamental to knowledge creation and the construction of intersubjectivity, and can be decisive in ICT policies. Interactivity, multiple contexts and subjectivity are conditioning factors of this complex process. This paper presents a reflection on how communication models including these factors can contribute to a phenomenological understanding of communication and how such understanding may support the formulation of digital technology policies.Las políticas orientadas a las tecnologías digitales raramente tienden a considerar modelos de comunicación exhaustivos, ni tampoco la forma en que la información es realmente generada y asimilada en un proceso de comunicación. Normalmente, los modelos que describen la comunicación están enteramente circunscritos por la dimensión técnica. En las interacciones mediadas por la tecnología, la efectividad entre la intención de un mensaje y cómo es recibida y entendida por un usuario es fundamental para la creación de conocimiento y la construcción de intersubjetividades, y puede ser decisiva en políticas de TIC. La interactividad, los múltiples contextos y la subjetividad son factores condicionantes de este proceso complejo. Este artículo presenta una reflexión sobre cómo los modelos de comunicación que incluyen estos factores pueden contribuir al entendimiento fenomenológico de la comunicación, que cubren las lagunas de modelos usualmente adoptados, cuyo foco se atiene predominantemente a la dimensión tecnológica o de comunicación de masa. Una comprensión más amplia y multidimensional de la complejidad inherente al proceso de comunicación puede soportar con mayor eficiencia la formulación de políticas de tecnologías digitales.Políticas voltadas a tecnologias digitais raramente tendem a considerar modelos de comunicação abrangentes, tampouco o modo como a informação é realmente gerada e assimilada em um processo comunicacional. Normalmente, os modelos que descrevem a comunicação são inteiramente circunscritos pela dimensão técnica. Em interações mediadas pela tecnologia, a efetividade entre a intenção de uma mensagem e como ela é recebida e compreendida por um usuário é fundamental para a criação de conhecimento e a construção de intersubjetividades, e pode ser decisiva em políticas de TIC. Interatividade, múltiplos contextos e subjetividade são fatores condicionantes desse processo complexo. Este artigo apresenta uma reflexão sobre como modelos de comunicação que incluem esses fatores podem contribuir para o entendimento fenomenológico da comunicação, cobrindo lacunas de modelagens usualmente adotadas, cujo foco atém-se predominantemente à dimensão tecnológica ou de comunicação de massa. Uma compreensão mais ampla e multidimensional da complexidade inerente ao processo comunicacional pode suportar com maior eficiência a formulação de políticas de tecnologias digitais

The Impact of the Internet in Six Latin American Countries

Access to the Internet has grown exponentially in Latin America over the past decade. The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) estimates that in 2009 there were 144.5 million Internet users in South America, 6.4 million in Central America, and 8.2 million in the Caribbean, or a total 159.2 million users in all of Latin America.1 At that time, ITU reported an estimated 31 million Internet users in Mexico, which would bring the overall number of users in Latin America to 190.2 million people. More recent estimates published by Internet World Stats place Internet access currently at an estimated 204.6 million out of a total population of 592.5 million in the region (this figure includes Mexico).2 According to those figures, 34.5 per cent of the Latin American population now enjoys Internet access. In recent years, universal access policies contributed to the vast increase in digital literacy and Internet use in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Costa Rica. Whereas the latter was the first country in the region to adopt a policy of universal access, the most expansive and successful digital inclusion programs in the region have taken hold in Brazil and Chile. These two countries have allocated considerable resources to the promotion of digital literacy and Internet access among low income and poor populations; in both cases, civil society groups significantly assisted in the promotion of inclusion at the grassroots level. Digital literacy and Internet access have come to represent, particularly in the area of education, a welcome complementary resource for populations chronically underserved in nations with a long-standing record of inadequate public social services. Digital inclusion is vastly expanding throughout the region, thanks to stabilizing economies, increasingly affordable technology, and the rapid growth in the supply of cellular mobile telephony. A recent study by the global advertising agency Razorfish revealed significant shifts in the demographics of digital inclusion in the major economies of South America, where Web access is rapidly increasing amid the lower middle class and the working poor.3 Several researchers have suggested that Internet access will bring about greater civic participation and engagement, although skeptics remain unsure this could happen in Latin America. Yet, there have been some recent instances of political mobilization facilitated through the use of the Web and social media applications, starting in Chile when “smart mobs” nationwide demonstrated against former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet when she failed to enact education reforms in May 2006. The Internet has also been used by marginalized groups and by guerrillas groups to highlight their stories. In sum, Internet access in Latin is no longer a medium restricted to the elite. It is rather a public sphere upon which civil society has staked its claim. Some of the examples noted in this study point toward a developing trend whereby civil society, through online grassroots movements, is able to effectively pressure public officials, instill transparency and demand accountability in government. Access to the Internet has also made it possible for voices on the margins to participate in the conversation in a way that was never previously feasible. 1 International Telecommunications Union [ITU], “Information Technology Public & Report,” accessed May 15, 2011, http://www.itu.int/. 2 Internet World Stats, “Internet Usage Statistics for the Americas,” accessed March 24, 2011, http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats2.htm 3 J. Crump, “The finch and the fox,” London, UK (2010), http://www.slideshare.net/razorfishmarketing/the-finch-and-the-fox

INVESTIGANDO OS FATORES QUE INFLUENCIAM A ADOÇÃO DE HDTV NO BRASIL

Três anos depois do lançamento da TV digital no Brasil, sua penetração ainda é pequena. O consumidor de conteúdo em alta definição tem sido principalmente assinantes de TV paga, em geral famílias com renda elevada, mas potenciais formadores de opinião. Para identificar estímulos e barreiras à adoção da TV por assinatura em alta definição (HD), quinze potenciais usuários foram entrevistados. Em seguida, um survey foi conduzido em amostra de 348 assinantes de TV paga que não contratavam pacotes HD. Os dados foram tratados por técnicas de data mining e árvore de decisão, identificando-se a relação entre atributos do serviço de HD percebidos e a intenção de contratá-lo. Os resultados sugerem que a disponibilidade de conteúdo em HD, recursos percebidos, renda familiar e a percepção de facilidade de uso da tecnologia têm impacto significativo na intenção de adoção de um serviço por assinatura de HDTV

Media Sosial Instagram sebagai Sarana Sosialisasi Kebijakan Penyiaran Digital

This research tests the hypothesis that social media (Instagram) is used as an effective medium to disseminate and educate people on issue of migration and digital TV. It is a three-week experimental research to 79 students as respondents based on video animation and text related to digital broadcasting. Instagram is chosen in term of interactive and audio-visual characteristics. The result shows that there is non-significant difference on students’ knowledge after treatment. The Chi Square test shows that Asymptotic significance is 0.646 (greater than 0,05). It indicates that there is no significant difference of knowledge before and after receiving a message about digital TV via Instagram

Radio evolution: conference proceedings

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Structured film-viewing preferences and practices : a quantitative analysis of hierarchies in screen and content selection amongst young people in Flanders

Aleit Veenstra, Philippe Meers and Daniel Biltereyst address a specific segment of a typical small-market audience—Flemish youth film viewers. Their study “Structured Film Viewing Preferences and Practices: A Quantitative Analysis of Hierarchies in Screen and Content Selection among Young People in Flanders” deals with one of the symptomatic problems of the era of convergent audiences, the multiplication of screens used for domestic consumption of audiovisual content. Building an intriguing empirical design, Veenstra and her colleagues aim to identify patterns of screen selection and their relation to the perceived value of Hollywood, European and domestic Flemish films. Their conclusion is that there are well-articulated hierarchies applied by the audience members in the selection of both film titles and reception screens and that, to put it simply, in the case of screens, size matters