BRITAIN is in the grip of digital fever. The big switch from analogue to
digital TV transmission is now inevitable and with it will come a more efficient
use of the airwaves. But it may take much longer and cost far more than the
broadcasters expect. No one seems to have asked viewers whether they are
prepared to pay hard cash for new digital equipment, and then some more to
receive a wide choice of programmes. And by the time they have flicked through
all the channels for one that appeals, they will probably have forgotten what
they thought would be interesting.
Digital services will be beamed to viewers from satellites and terrestrial
masts. North Americans are already able to receive digital satellite services,
but Britain is leading the world into digital terrestrial television (DTTV).
The BBC鈥檚 Director-General John Birt recently informed his staff that they
can expect to be launching a digital TV service in October. Rupert Murdoch鈥檚
BSkyB has promised a digital TV service of up to 200 channels from a new
satellite which Astra, the Luxembourg-based company, will launch in the summer.
But now the rivals have joined forces, with the BBC pledging support for BSkyB鈥檚
bet-hedging bid to run three digital terrestrial 鈥渕ultiplexes鈥� with commercial
TV companies Carlton and Granada. Multiplexes are single frequencies that will
each carry several TV channels.
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The new North American owners of NTL, the company which provides transmitters
for ITV and Channel Four, has put in a rival bid. Virginia Bottomley, Britain鈥檚
National Heritage Secretary, welcomes the competition as it 鈥渒eeps Britain on
track as the world leader in DTTV鈥�. Ian Taylor, the minister for science and
technology, says it 鈥済ives the lie to jeremiads and prophets of doom鈥�.
The government has good reason to want DTTV to be a success. The acres of
space in the UHF frequency-band currently used for analogue TV can be reclaimed
and sold to the highest bidders鈥攑robably for mobile phones and data
communications.
The BBC and commercial broadcasters stand to gain too. They have seen BSkyB
poach their audience by buying up movies and sports events, charging viewers
high prices to watch them and then using the profits to monopolise more
events.
BSkyB will certainly benefit from the alliance. None of the four million dish
aerials currently receiving Sky鈥檚 analogue service can be used to pick up the
new digital satellite signals. The new satellite will be at a different position
in space, and transmit on frequencies which are too high for the electronics in
most existing dishes to receive. So besides a new set-top decoder, which
converts digital to analogue signals for the TV set, satellite viewers will need
an engineer to modify or replace their dish aerials.
In contrast, most aerials presently used to receive today鈥檚 analogue
terrestrial TV will also be able to receive the new digital signals. It will
often be possible to receive perfect pictures from a simple set-top aerial. It
was thus entirely logical for BSkyB to join forces with the BBC and commercial
terrestrial broadcasters, since selected programmes can be broadcast both from
satellite and terrestrial digital transmitters.
The electronics companies like the idea of digital TV because they see it as
an opportunity to sell new equipment. But any comparison with the sales they
achieved with the introduction of colour TV and VCR are dangerous. The
difference between an old 405-line black-and-white picture and the new 625-line
colour image was dramatic. And VCR changed our lives, first with home recording
and then with movie rental.
The 鈥渞eal鈥� retail cost of a set-top digital decoder is currently estimated to
be about 拢500, or even 拢600. BSkyB has talked of heavy subsidies to
sell decoders at 拢200. But to do justice to widescreen, surround-sound
digital broadcasts, the viewer will have to spend a further 拢1000 on a
widescreen TV and several hundred pounds more on amplifiers and speakers. This
makes digital TV look very expensive.
Widescreen TV sets have been on sale in Britain for more than five years and
there are tapes, video discs and broadcasts (from Channel 4) tailored for
widescreen viewing. But sales have been pitifully slow.
Existing analogue TV transmissions already have the BBC鈥檚 Nicam digital
stereo-sound system, often with Dolby surround sound for the benefit of viewers
who have installed loudspeakers around the room. But the BBC recently admitted
that 19 of its main transmitters have still not been converted to Nicam, and
there is no date scheduled for conversion. This hardly supports the
corporation鈥檚 confidence in digital sound as a selling point for digital TV.
In any case, the idea that digital TV always gives better pictures is a myth.
The pictures can be worse than today鈥檚 analogue transmissions. It all depends on
how many programme channels the broadcaster wants to cram into the
multiplex.
BSkyB already uses a 鈥渉oney trap鈥� to win viewers, virtually giving away
analogue satellite receivers in return for a signature on an expensive
subscription agreement. If terrestrial broadcasters now start to work on the
same principle, heavily subsidising digital decoders, customers can expect to
pay a high price in subscriptions for their digital viewing.
The big challenge ahead for the BBC, BSkyB and their partners is not
technical鈥攊t is to find a way of persuading people to reach deep into
their wallets.