Digital television in Germany

• Autores: Hans J. Kleinsteuber
• Localización: International Journal of Digital Television, ISSN-e 2040-4190, Vol. 2, Nº. 1, 2011, págs. 87-93
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Digital television in Germany is not really the subject of national-level policy. Initiatives are left to the broadcasters and to the Landesmedienanstalten, the fourteen bodies that regulate broadcasting in each of Germany's sixteen Lnder (regional states). The explanation for this lies in the history of German broadcasting. Government attempts to strengthen Germany's role in the electronics industry during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s were broadly unsuccessful. When digital television became a possibility, the broadcasters and the state-level regulatory bodies took the initiative, with Berlin pioneering digital terrestrial switch-over. Analogue terrestrial switch-off was completed in 2008, but terrestrial reception accounts for a very small proportion of households, and cable and satellite remain a mix of analogue and digital technology. Today the major players have their commercial strategies, but the national government has given up on media policy, and the electronics sector has mostly disappeared.