Ending the confusion over digital

IF you’re a little confused about digital television, datacasting, the digital broadcasting Act, interactivity or any number of technolgoical terms being bandied about by the media, rest assured … you’re not alone.

Faced with widespread misunderstanding of the technology, Digital Broadcasting Australia is embarking on an ambitious national marketing project to demystify digital television for all Australians.

The Government’s digital broadcasting Act undermined any mounting excitement surrounding the introduction of digital TV in Australia and confused many people in terms of what this technology has to offer.

Digital Broadcasting Australia managing consultant Tim O’Keefe said DBA was trying to develop a coordinated marketing strategy for digital television for consumers, retailers and installers.

DBA was modelled on a similar group in the UK, called the Digital Television Group, which was established to support the introduction of digital television through the pay television network in the UK.

A formal affiliation with DTG will further DBA’s understanding of important issues to publicise for consumers.

“The DBA was established in response to the need to coordinate the group across the broadcasters and retailers for the provision of information to the retailers and consumers,” Mr O’Keefe said.

Through educating the retailers and installers on the benefits of digital television, DBA hopes to derail any myths or confusion surrounding the technology.

“We see the retailers and the installers so we’re educating them about the benefits of digital and providing retailers with point-of-sale material and some consumer brochures,” Mr O’Keefe said.

In comparison to the work of DTG in the UK, Mr O’Keefe believes DBA has been more successful in making information available to consumers.

“I think we’ve placed more emphasis on pushing information out to consumers, because the UK situation was driven by subscription television, so DTG had to rely on the television subscriber to provide information,” Mr O’Keefe said.

DBA argues that the local industry can learn from the problems that arose in the UK and the US.

The Australian industry can gain invaluable insight from the introduction of digital television into the UK market and hopefully avoid some of the problems that dogged the digital television industry in the UK, Mr O’Keefe said.