Introduction to Broadcast Media

SESSION 4

Broadcasting trends
Television broadcasting
The importance of contemporary television broadcasting for the shaping and
development of national cultures and identities is increasingly evident. Television as
the privileged medium for the dissemination of information and for mass
entertainment has irreversibly altered the manner in which nations perceive
themselves and each other.

Television Broadcasting in Pakistan

 Pakistan Television (PTV) was founded in 1964 with financial and technical
assistance from Japan. The first television station was set up in Lahore.
 TV and radio provided the public a certain degree of awareness and
entertainment through music and plays. PTV plays were not only popular
within the country but also captured a huge viewership in India

Liberalizing the airwaves

 For more than four decades, Pakistan’s 152 million citizens have had to bear
with official news offerings.
 But the winds of change started blowing in the 1990s when India liberalized
its media sector which recorded an exponential growth from one state-owned
television channel in 1991 to 70 in 1998. Given their availability on the dish
antenna and cable, the Indian channels penetrated Pakistani society through
their superior, more open and glamorous programming.
 Shalimar Television Network was established during first tenure of Benazir
Bhutto. Programming was done by Network Television Marketing.
 The military government of General Pervez Musharraf decided to open up the
broadcast sector to private ownership in 2002.
 The move came as a blessing in disguise for the Pakistani public who
hungered for a real, reliable and relevant source of independent information.
 In the intervening two years, the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory
Authority (PEMRA) issued about 100 FM radio and 25 satellite TV licences,
transforming the country’s media scene drastically.
 Since then, the number of private channels in Pakistan has increased steadily
and by the end of 2009, the country boasted of 77 private satellite channels
and 129 FM radio stations.
 An increase attributable to a considerable relaxation in cross media
ownership restrictions and enhanced national advertising budget owing to the
advent of many FMCGs (fast moving consumer goods) on the national
horizon (PEMRA Annual Report, 2009).

Impact on state broadcasting

 The impact of the transnational channels on the broadcast sector in Pakistan
has been phenomenal.

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 It has helped end the monopoly of state broadcasters who are now suddenly
up against a slew of formidable rivals challenging the long-held dominance of
PTV among the viewers.
 Feeling the weight of the competition, the PTV introduced in the 1990s a
more liberal approach in the news and current affairs programmes as
reflected in ‘Open Forum’ and ‘Meezan’ (Scales) – two popular talk shows of
the time.
 The launch of a current affairs and news channel in October 2000 was also an
attempt by PTV to deal with the competition from private channels.
 Apart from PTV One, various new channels such as PTV National, AJK TV,
PTV Bolan, PTV World and PTV Global have been launched.

Impact on news and entertainment

 The country’s private television channels stood out for their fearless news
reporting came during the judicial crisis in 2007 after President Musharraf
sacked Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.
 The private channels have also changed the concept of political reporting and
with it the country’s politics and the conduct of politicians. This is clearly
visible in the political talk shows which “feature a diversity of views.
 The outreach of the private channels is vast and broad-based thereby
enabling hitherto marginalized communities to voice their grievances and to
bring these within the ambit of public consciousness and become a part of
the broad national discourse.
 While the liberal programming has broadened the minds of the people, it has
also made them aware of issues which were previously swept under the rug.
 In recent years, this freedom has been used to delve deep into the nets of
politics with channels going into an overdrive to unmask incidents of
corruption, malpractice and maladministration.
 The media has also transformed and enlarged the public space and enhanced
citizens’ engagement with issues which are now debated on the television
screen, not the floor of parliament.
 The contribution of private channels towards promotion of popular music
genres is also significant. The phenomenon set in the late eighties by the
likes of pop stars Nazia and Zohaib and later picked up by Vital Signs and
Junoon has been taken to a new high by dedicated 24-hour music channels.
 And the prime beneficiaries of this boom remain private television channels
whose revenues have skyrocketed.
 During the early days of its launch, Geo TV sold ad time for between 5,000 to
10,000 rupees per minute with ARY and Indus also enjoying similar rates.
 The impact of transnational media on broadcasting is also reflected in an
overall transformation of professional skills and work ethics.
 The quality of news and investigative reporting is consistently improving. The
demand for quality has also contributed to better wages for the journalists.
 With the expansion of the broadcast sector, the intake of fresh blood into the
industry has also increased manifold.
 At the time Jang Group launched Geo TV, it added 2,000 employees to the
existing 3,000 workforce and some 500 journalists were trained for six
months through international media consultants.

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 The new channels have also contributed to an all-time high intake of students
in mass communication departments of Pakistani universities.
 The standard of journalism has also improved considerably. Subjects such as
TV production, investigative and online journalism are quite popular now.

Broadcast Standards
ATSC
ATSC stands for Advanced Television Systems Committee, but the abbreviation is
synonymous with the group's standard for digital television broadcast. ATSC is used
for over-the-air transmission of HDTV signals, replacing the former analog standard
NTSC. It can support video resolutions up to 1080p and 5.1 surround audio, and
can be picked up on the same frequency UHF/VHF antennas as NTSC.

NTSC
NTSC stands for National Television Standards Committee, and is synonymous with
the video transmission standard for North and Central America, including Mexico
and Canada, and Japan. Its technical format is 525 lines per frame at roughly 30
frames per second refresh rate. NTSC is no longer utilized in the United States,
having been replaced with the digital ATSC standard in 2009.

PAL
PAL (Phase Alteration Line) is the European counterpart to the NTSC standard. It
has a higher vertical resolution (625 lines per frame) but a lower refresh rate (25
frames per second) that can cause flickering. It is the standard for the UK, Western
Europe, the Middle East, Asia and parts of Africa and South America.

SECAM
SECAM (Systeme Electronic Pour Couleur Avec Memoire) is very similar to PAL. It
specifies the same number of scan lines and frames per second, but differs in that
chrominance (color) is FM modulated. It is the broadcast standard for France,
Russia, and parts of Africa and Eastern Europe.

VIDEO RESOLUTION
The display resolution of a digital television or display device is the number of
distinct pixels in each dimension that can be displayed. It is simply the physical
number of columns and rows of pixels creating the display (e.g., 1920×1200).

VIDEO FRAME
In film, video production, animation, and related fields, a frame is one of the many
still images which compose the complete moving picture. Historically, these were
recorded on a long strip of photographic film or disk, and each image looked rather
like a framed picture when examined individually, hence the name.
When the moving picture is displayed, each frame is flashed on a screen for a short
time (nowadays, usually 1/24th, 1/25th or 1/30th of a second) and then
immediately replaced by the next one. Persistence of vision blends the frames
together, producing the illusion of a moving image.

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The frame rate, the rate at which sequential frames are presented, varies according
to the video standard in use. In North America and Japan, 30 frames per second is
the broadcast standard, with 24 frame/s now common in production for high-
definition video. In much of the rest of the world, 25 frame/s is standard.
In film projection, 24 frame/s is the norm, except in some special venue systems,
where 30, 48 or even 60 frame/s have been used. Silent films and 8 mm amateur
movies used 16 or 18 frame/s.

TYPES OF BROADCAST
MMDS
Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) is also known as Wireless Cable
TV. MMDS is a terrestrial service which means that the signal from transmitter
travels along the surface of the earth to get to the receiver antenna. Since the
signal travels along the earth surface the coverage of the signal is limited to 40-50
km in radius due to earth curvature. This is a point to point service which means
that the receiver should be in clear line of sight of the transmitter.

Cable Television Service

Cable Television Service means distribution of TV programmes through a set of
cable.

Satellite TV
Satellite TV is provision of television services through satellite. The Satellite
Television channel is received anywhere in the world where the foot print or beam
of the Satellite is received. We need a licence to establish a Satellite TV Station.

The range of a Satellite TV station

The range of a Satellite TV Station depends upon foot print or coverage area of the
Satellite being used.

Licence
A company registered with the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan
under the Companies Ordinance, 1984 is only eligible to apply for Satellite TV
Licence against Licence fee fixed at Rs.2.5 million in Pakistan. The application fee
for license is Rs. 200,000/-. PEMRA licensees are bound to comply with the Code of
Conduct, PEMRA Ordinance , Rules and Regulations. PEMRA also issues Satellite TV
licences to public sector educational institutions. These licences are issued on non-
commercial basis for educational purpose only.

License categories:

The satellite TV channel licences shall be granted in the following commercial

categories:

 News & Current Affairs;

Entertainment;

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 Sports;
 Education;
 Agriculture;
 Health;
 Regional Language.

 All the above licence categories are for commercial satellite TV channels which
shall be allowed to carry advertisements only in accordance with the PEMRA
Ordinance, rules & regulations, licence terms & conditions as amended from
time to time.

 The categories are self-explanatory and the content to be carried by the

respective channel shall be in accordance with the respective category and
program mix approved by the Authority.

 The successful applicant companies shall give an elaborate content

presentation to PEMRA highlighting the main features and layout of the
programs to be carried on the respective channel.

 PEMRA reserves the right to approve or reject the proposed content or direct
the applicant company to make necessary changes in the content layout as per
PEMRA Laws. The applicant company shall be bound to amend the content
accordingly.

 The profiles of successful bidder companies will be referred to the Ministry of

Interior for security clearance. The licence will be granted only after fulfillment
of all legal requirements including receipt of NOC from the Ministry of Interior,
successful provincial consultation, content presentation, public hearing and
compliance with the relevant laws, rules & regulations prevalent at the time of
grant of licence and payment of applicable licence fee & security deposit.

 The schedule for payment of applicable licence fee shall be as determined by

the Authority. In case of non-compliance with the schedule of payment given
by the Authority, the earnest money and all Other sums deposited by the
applicant company shall be forfeited.

 Any subsequent request for change in category either before grant of licence
or after grant of licence shall not be entertained. The licensee shall be obliged
to air content only as per the respective category and approved programming
mix.

Landing Rights
If a Satellite TV channel is uplinked from abroad and the channel operator wants to
distribute the channel in Pakistan, Landing Rights permission shall have to be
obtained from PEMRA for its distribution on distribution networks in Pakistan.
Programming content being telecast via a particular satellite TV channel, should be
in conformity with the social, cultural and ethical norms of the country, and the
PEMRA Code of Conduct.

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The applicant company shall have distribution agreement with the principal of the
foreign satellite TV channel for down linking & distribution of the channel in
Pakistan.

The applicant shall comply with relevant provisions of PEMRA laws and shall give
undertaking in this regard.
 The applicant shall not be recipients of funds from a foreign government,
organization.
 The applicant shall not be a firm or company the majority of whose shares
are owned or controlled by foreign national or whose management control
is vested in foreign national or companies;

 Security clearance from Ministry of Interior in respect of the applicant

company & its Directors / shareholders shall be done.

 The applicant company must not be holding, directly or indirectly, a

distribution service licence

Landing Rights Permission Fee

Category Base price Annual Fee (In

Rs. In Rupees)
Million
1 News & Current 5o I .0 million* 5% Of
Affairs AGAR
2 Entertainment 40 0.7 million 7.5%of
AGAR
3 Sports 30 0.7 million +
7.5%of AGAR
4 Education 10 0.3 million +
5%ofAGAR
5 Agriculture 10 0.3 million ofAGAR
6 Health 10 0.3 million + 5%
of AGAR
7 Regional Language 10 0.5 million + 5%
of AGAR

IP TV
Internet Protocol Television is a new method of delivering and viewing television
programming using an IP network and high speed broad band access technology. It
provides triple service on a single medium i.e. TV, internet and telephone.

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Licence Application Licence fee ( Annual

Category processing fee Rs. ) (Licence renewal fee
(Rs.) Term 10
years)
1 Category - A 50,000 4,000,000 30% of licence
fee + 2 % of
AGR.*
2 Category – B 50,000 2,000,000 30% of licence
fee + 2 % of
AGR.*
3 Category – C 50,000 1,000,000 30% of licence
fee + 2 % of
AGR.*

*AGR = Annual Gross Revenue means total amount of income earned annually
before deduction of taxes, which include revenue from advertisement over in-house
channels & revenue from subscription fee and all other sums received from licenced
service except amount received from sale of Set-Top Boxes (STB). [New Media]

DTH
Subscribers in Pakistan are receiving satellite channels beamed through various
satellites. The most widespread reception method is through an intermediary in the
form of a cable operator. The cable operator establishes his own system comprising
Dish Antennas, Modulators, Decoders, Coaxial cable and line amplifiers etc. for
relaying these channels to the subscribers.
One method of direct reception of these channels which can render greater and
better-quality coverage is the Direct-to-Home satellite television service. Through
this service, subscribers or end users, receive signals directly from geostationary
satellites. Signals are broadcast in digital format at microwave frequencies. The
quality of picture is much better then analog.

DTH Technical
A DTH subscriber’s installation consists of a dish antenna two to three feet (60 to
90 centimeters) in diameter, a conventional TV set, a signal converter placed next
to the TV set, and a length of coaxial cable between the dish and the converter. The
dish intercepts microwave signals directly from the satellite. The converter
produces output that can be viewed on the TV receiver. There are also widespread
complaints of piracy of foreign channels by some of the local cable TV operators as
well as individuals. Establishment of DTH service with proper authorization is
expected to eliminate such gray market activity to a large extent.

How DTH Operate?

The DTH Operator would receive / downlink the eligible channels (channels which
are authorized by PEMRA for distribution in Pakistan) from various satellites
including free to-air and encrypted channels at the head-end / DTH station. For the
encrypted channels the DTH operator would make payment to the channel operator
in accordance with the PEMRA prescribed tariff. Once down linked the channels
would be edited, where required, to make them in conformity with the PEMRA code

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of Conduct. After which the channels would be combined through multiplexer to

form a bouquet / channel mix and then uplinked to a designated satellite, with
adequate transmitting power, for distribution to the subscribers in the form of a
single bouquet. The subscribers would be able to receive the bouquet of television
channels through small dish antennas and digital decoders on payment of
subscription charges to the DTH operator.
The number of channels will be decided by PEMRA based on the study of local
needs, public interest, availability of channels and their conformity with the Code of
Conduct. [DTH]

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA)

PEMRA has been established under PEMRA Ordinance 2002 to facilitate and regulate
the private electronic media. It has mandate to improve the standards of
information, education and entertainment and to enlarge the choice available to the
people of Pakistan Including news, current affairs, religious knowledge, art and
culture as well as science and technology.

Code of the conduct

Fundamental principles:— The licensee shall ensure that :-

No content is aired which—

 is against the Islamic values, ideology of Pakistan or founding fathers of the

nation including Quaid-e-Azam and Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal;

 incites or condones dislodgement of democratic setup against the command

of the constitution of Pakistan, provided that discussions on improvement of
democracy shall constitute a fair comment.

 includes a call to arms against the Federation of Pakistan or anything against

the integrity, security and defense of Pakistan;

 passes derogatory remarks about any religion, sect, community or uses

visuals or words contemptuous of religious sects and ethnic groups or which
promote communal and sectarian attitude or disharmony;

 contains anything indecent, obscene or pornographic.

 contains abusive comment that incites hatred and contempt against any
individual or group of persons, on the basis of race, caste, nationality, ethnic
or linguistic origin, color, religion, sect, gender, age, mental or physical
disability;

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 is in violation of copyrights or other related property rights as protected

under any law for the time being in force;

 is likely to incite, aid, abet, glamorize or justify violence, commission of any

crime, terror or leads to serious public disorder;

 is known to be false; or there exist sufficient reasons to believe that the

same may be false beyond a reasonable doubt;

 contains aspersions against the judiciary or armed forces of Pakistan:

 amounts to intimidation, blackmail or false incrimination of any person; is

defamatory as defined in the law for the time being in force; or

 depicts behaviour such as smoking, alcohol consumption, narcotics and drug

abuse as glamorous or desirable: Provided that where showing of smoking,
alcohol consumption, narcotics and drug use is necessary for dramatic or
educational purposes, a clear warning as to injurious effects of the same
shall also be shown simultaneously.

Interactive Broadcasting
Interactive means getting a reaction of an action. In the terminology of
broadcasting it refers to asking something from a broadcaster/guest speaker and
getting a quick reply.

A new concept in broadcasting in recent years has been introduced which involves
the viewers at real-time transmission or in the prerecorded programs. The recent
technological developments are surely suggesting that next phase of broadcasting
is at its threshold. It is little difficult to what shape modern communication would
settle to, one thing is, however, evident that broadcasting, as we know it today,
would be soon a story of the past.

On the other hand all the radio/TV programs where interactivity is being introduced
are getting popular among the listeners. The FM stations, though their area of
transmission is limited, are doing a good deal of growth in the radio listening mainly
because much of their transmission is based on programs which have very lively
interactivity with the listeners. Seeing the phenomenal rise in the listening of FM
programs, other radio stations are also trying to catch the bus. The old fashioned
programs based on boring, and rather one-sided discussions are no more in
demand and are being fast replaced by the programs in which ordinary people are
also finding their say – does not matter if it belongs to entertainment programs.
Here we will see what new changes have been already introduced in the
broadcasting world and which are in experimental stage and bound to change
broadcasting scenario drastically.

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On-line
Mostly the wind of changes is blowing rather strongly in the arena of digital
technology. The arrival of computer in our daily life both at home and working
places is changing our radio listening habits. Now you need not to have a separate
hardware to carry to listen to programs of your interest. Get on-line, find the
desired webpage and click on the point of your interest. Enjoy listening to radio and
at the same time; continue working on the same computer your routine work. One
can attach the computer with additional speakers or just be content with the
earphone. Most web sites which have a broadcasting station on their pages also
give you the facility of recording a particular program on the hard disc which you
may listen to at your free time. It does not cost you any thing extra. In an other
way, some important pieces of broadcast, like the news or interviews, are also
placed on the web pages in the recorded form. A listener may reach these pages
later in the day and can still enjoy listening to the programs of his/her choice.

E-mails
You want to say something to the broadcasting house. It will not take you days, as
was the case few years back, but send an e-mail which is possible even during a
program. Suggest them what you want to hear, or point out if a correction is
required in something aired by the radio station. This practice is getting very
common among the listeners and the radio stations are finding e-mails in high
number on the addresses meant for different programs. As far the radio stations
are concerned, they can pick only a couple of mails during a program for the time
meant for a broadcast is always limited and at the same time it takes long to go
through the mails when the program is having a status of on-air. Writing an e-mail
to get your point of view heard is a skill – always write to the point, brief and in
very appropriate words. You stand more chances of being picked than those who
start a letter in a very formal way.

Interview
An interview is going on with a politician, city mayor, VC or principal of a university
/college, business tycoon or a celebrity, questions/ answers prompt you to ask a
question. Don’t worry. Set your question and ask telephonically or by e-mail. At
times radio stations encourage interactivity with listeners and direct questions they
receive from listeners straightaway to their guest. These days interviewees are also
prepared to face questions from general public as they sit in a studio of a radio
station.

Views in News
It is not a very old practice. With the advancement in other areas of programs, an
interactive newsreel is very much in vogue. There was a time when views or
comments about a piece of information were obtained after the news bulletin. This
mode has been changed now. To make a newsreel more interactive these days, a
newscaster would turn to the person, a politician, a business tycoon or an expert,
to talk in real time to get his/her views before reading the next news item on the
script. This has given a new dimension to news casting.

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How the TV Business Actually Works

The key factor at play in nearly every major business decision in television, you will
find subscription fees. For those who do not know, subscription fees are the primary
revenue stream that funds today’s mainstream television content development.
These are basically a “share” of the subscription fee you pay to your cable or
satellite operator that is then shared back to the content owner/distributor
(typically on a per subscriber basis). Over the past 30 years, these fees have
become the lifeblood of the TV content business – affecting how the major
aggregators think and operate, and also affecting how content is produced,
financed, and packaged.

Affiliate fee optimization is the key objective behind many of the industry’s most
high profile strategic moves. Here are a few examples.

Modern Day Cable Channel Strategy.

Today’s most typical cable strategy is built entirely around profit maximization
utilizing affiliate fees. If you own a TV channel, your goal is to develop one or two
key, hit programs, and fill the rest of the linear lineup with very inexpensive
content. The “hits” make you a “must have” for any cable or satellite carrier –
granting you the right to ask for fees. Too many hits drive up costs. This is why you
will see more and more hit shows on the less well-known cable channels like ATV,
TV1, TV Urdu etc.

Networks Ask for Fees.

For the longest time, the major networks were not part of the subscription fee
gravy train. In fact, due to “must carry” laws, most networks never considered
intentionally restricting their own distribution. They were simply pleased to get
redistributed over cable and satellite. As these fees have grown in size and
importance, the networks have changed their position and have come to the table
asking for subscription fees also.

Oprah Asks for Fees.

Many people seem confused by Oprah’s decision to abandon her network television
show after 25+ years of unquestionable success and relaunch it within her own TV
network. Why would she do such a thing? Because she can. When Oprah launches
her own network (with the help of Discovery), she will get per subscriber fees.
Which cable company is not going to carry Oprah? What programs will be on
during the other 23 hours? They still need to carry the Oprah channel. That said,
Oprah has proven she can launch other personalities (Dr. Phil), and one would
suspect that any new celebrity she “launches” will be tied to the Oprah network,
increasing her leverage and her subscription fees. [OPRAH SHOW]

Sports Networks Ask for Fees.

Subscription fees are driving an endless supply of channels for anyone that has
“must see” content. The NFL has a channel, and had some high profile
disagreements with the carriers over the “need” for its subscription fee. You also
see an NBA channel, an MLB channel, and pro wrestling is striving for one as well.
If you own exclusive content, you might as well build a channel around it. This

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endless proliferation of channels will one day reach a limit, but for now it’s the
game on the field.
This on-demand, “over the top” offering is a killer product for the true sports fan,
offering access to significantly more live games that was ever possible on a
traditional linear cable channel.
First, you tell your customers that you want to provide them with a killer new
service. They are already paying for all the content they receive through the linear
channel stack. What if that same content could be viewed at any time “on-demand”
and also through multiple devices (TV, PC, and mobile)? Sounds great so far. Who
wouldn’t want this?

Cable Company’s Point of View

Next comes the clever part. The cable companies go to the content owners and
make the following argument. With Internet-connected TVs on the horizon, you can
no longer separate the Internet from the TV or the office from the living room. We
pay you an affiliate fee to distribute your content to the homes we serve. We
understand you have multiple distribution partners. What we don’t understand is
why you would give content to some of them for free, and still expect us to pay our
fees. This is the move that forced Hulu to a subscription model. The content
owners, struggling with depressed advertising rates as a result of the global
recession, quickly agreed to this assertion that maybe all their content should have
a price.

Broadcast TV Needs a New Business Model

Broadcasters have had it tough in business model terms. The rise of cable and the
proliferation of content have shaken off their grip on consumers’ attention and
schedules. The vastly expanding worlds of alternatives for entertainment and
education have put them in a position of struggling to hang on to audiences. And all
this has basically ended the dominance of “appointment TV,” when you would know
that a certain show was on at a certain time and clear your calendar to watch it.
With the exception of “big event TV,” which includes programs such as the PSL or
the Cricket World Cup, viewers can increasingly customize what they are watching
to their own interests and on their own schedules. The future of broadcast is indeed
unclear.

Programs bundle
The basic problem is that the constraints which broadcasters have historically used
to protect their profits have now been relaxed — or have even disappeared. The
issue is that when you sell things in bundles you can charge for a whole bunch of
things nobody really wants — customers will pay for the entire bundle in order to
get the one or two things they actually want. For example, if somebody is a regular
viewer of a particular drama or a show on a certain television network and the rest
of the programming of that particular network is none of his or her interest. To
catch that particular drama, he/she has to pay the monthly subscription fee for the
entire network. This worked for years in cable television — give customers
hundreds of channels they won’t watch but will pay for anyway in order to obtain
ESPN or HBO. It worked in music — make customers purchase an entire album
when all they actually want is the hit song. It works in other industries as well.

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This is exactly what’s happening in the broadcast industry right now.

Aereo - BBC
Upstart Aereo has a potentially devastating business model where, using tiny
antennas, they snatch “free” content that broadcasters send over the airwaves,
then charge customers subscription fees to have that content directed to their own
TV sets. While the channels are a lot more limited, the fees are much less than a
cable subscription. The broadcasters, obviously, have cried foul, arguing that they
pay to create the high-quality content that is re-broadcast and should be
compensated for it. Aereo’s argument, which the courts have so far supported, is
that those signals are free what they are offering to their customers. To understand
just how disruptive this is, that if the networks lose the right to charge re-
transmission fees, they would consider abandoning the business model of sending
content over the airwaves and instead adopt a pay-only model. [Aereo]

Changed model
Once the bundled model begins to erode, consumers flee it to go to a model where
they are buying only what they want. That’s what happened in music,
fundamentally transforming the nature of the business. Increasingly, that’s what’s
happening with movies, as video on demand and streaming fundamentally shift
power to consumers.

Once upon a time, TV night involved a family of five, gathered in front of their
console TV, watching their favorite show in rapt silence. Nowadays, TV nights look
quite different, with the five members of that same family sitting in different rooms
of the house, watching different programs on their iPads, smart phones, flat-screen
TVs and laptop. And as TV's modes of distribution continue to change, the TV
industry will have to keep scrambling.

Cutting the TV Cable

In TV's glory days there was only the PTV network—if you missed the Show, you'd
rely on friends and neighbors to tell you the what had just changed. Today, we can
record shows, find them online and go on Twitter or Facebook to share our opinions
about them. Viewers have more choices than ever before, and audiences for
individual programs are decreasing.
Over-the-top (OTT) technology, which provides content to viewers through
broadband connections like the PTCL smart TV, is also upsetting traditional models.
Third-party site like Netflix, and Hulu let viewers watch what they want, whenever
they want, for a fraction of the cost of most cable subscriptions. It’s no wonder that
people are moving to OTT at a rapid speed.

Alternative Viewing
The ability to watch shows on our iPhones and Smart TVs gives viewers a newfound
sense of autonomy. Most of the mobile phone service providers like ZONG, Ufone,
Mobilink etc. are offering television programs through mobile TV applications on
Android phones, which cuts out the middleman and lets viewers manage their own
TV packages.

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Introduction to Broadcast Media

Looking Ahead
The TV business has suffered major disruptions already, from cable and VCRs to
DVD and streaming video. Despite everything, it is still thriving. But now, more
than ever, companies need to change to meet rapidly evolving demands. When
broadcast TV was king, programmers made money via advertising. Big shows had
to appeal to broad audiences. Stories had to contain discreet narratives so that
each, individual episode could serve as a stand-alone. Cable made it possible for a
suitable place in programs to find a home. And now, with streaming platforms like
Netflix and Hulu, characters and plot lines are becoming much more complex.

The Bottom Line

As more and more customers cut the cable cord and log onto online streaming
platforms, the TV industry we've known will change. In the future, television
executives will worry more and more about their autonomy and the quality of their
individual offerings. Traditional revenue streams will shift as well and companies
like Netflix—which are already seeing profits from subscriptions rather than ads—
are expected to lead the way.

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