MEDIA MERGENCE:Radio, TV mergence, Economic reasons

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Introduction to Mass Communication MCM 101

LESSON 42

MEDIA MERGENCE

Every time a new technology is introduced in the sphere of mass media and a new media organ is

created, there appears a situation where new form of mass communication gets its source material from the

media organs already in vogue.

The mediated communication which is always based on certain technology also needs contents which must

be made the main area of mass communication. Hardly there has been a situation when a new technology

has also brought altogether new topics to be talked about with the help of new science. Here we will see

how the advent of various technologies has led to media combination.

From Print to Electronic Amalgamation

Print media had been enjoying a unique distinction in the society for almost four hundred years

when in the first quarter of the 20th century radio was introduced on the basis of electromagnetic waves

technology. It was first time that the people experienced a wireless communication at massive scale.

Radio brought with it listening pleasure music, talks and news etc. But the nature of contents in news, talk

shows, discussions, educational programmes and comments was not new. More or less it was dealing with

the same content people had been familiar with over the years because of print media. The only change was

the new technology. Contents were the same. So one can say that radio was a mergence of print and

electronic media as far content were concerned.

Radio, TV mergence

Although TV was also based on radio wave technology, the carrying of images through

electromagnetic waves gave it a unique distinction and in the eyes of common people TV has been a

different entity.

But on the content side, TV picked many ideas from radio formats like group discussions, musical

programmes, and commentary on sporting events, and presentation of news. The changes were only due to

presence of images.

TV and computer getting one - IPT (Internet protocol TV)

In the third quarter of the 20th century scientists were successful in using the digital technology for

carrying contents which were earlier carried only through analog techniques. This led to a marriage between

the analog and digital technologies and it is here that the subject of mergence of media has emerged.

This new combination is exclusive in the sense that it not only brings the contents of sound and images

together and all the formats of programme remain intact, it at the same time brings the two technologies at

one point.

In coming years you would be able to use your computer as TV and if you desire, TV set could also be used

as computer because most TV sets manufactured after 2006, or so, would carry a chip which would enable

decoding of messages transmitted through digital technology.

So, when we say that the media will converge, we mean that current television shows will merge into a

hybrid with World Wide Web style content. Television shows will have other types of media like text

merged into them, and World Wide Web pages will begin to be temporal entities that tell a story. Another

way of looking at this is that both your television and your computer will be running a similar super browser

which will allow the same content to be viewed on both devices. Also, to say that the two converge it is not

enough to say that you will be able to watch television on your computer-- that merely means that television

content is a sub-set of computer content and is already possible today. For the two to truly converge the

content that can be received by both devices should be the same.

When we say that the media will not converge, we mean that television shows and world wide web content

will remain distinct media forms, and that you will use your television for watching television shows, and

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your computer to view and browse web content. While both media types may have evolved, they will

remain different from one another.

People will cease distinguishing between computers and televisions:

The second topic for the debate will be that the computers and televisions as devices will merge. In

this case the argument is that sometime in the future there won't be "televisions" and "computers", but

some new device that encapsulates the behavior of both. This "viewer" will come in different sizes and

shapes, but will be thought of as one item, just like little TVs and big TVs in people's minds are considered

one type of device. While you may be more inclined to use the "viewer" on your desk to browse the web,

and the "viewer" in the home theater to watch movies, you would be willing to do either task on either

device. In other words, if you were at your desk working on a "viewer" and a friend called up telling you to

check out a show, you would just switch the "viewer" to that show, rather than going into another room to

find a "TV viewer".

Non-convergence in this case is the argument that, while TVs may take on some computer-like functionality

and vice versa, fundamentally the two will be thought of as different devices. Doing research and browsing

the web will be done on a computer, and watching shows and movies will be done on a television.

Finally, it is important to make one final point on the debate framework. There are always extreme points

in the adoption of technology. Since there is no technical reason why a television can't have the same

functionality as a computer, or vice versa, it is quite likely that both computer powered TVs and computers

that can display television will be around in the future.

Nature of program remains a question

On account of this, the debate will center on what functionality the majority of televisions and

computers will have, and what types of media will be broadcast for a majority of broadcast hours. The

main question we consider is whether televisions and computers will come to be more similar on average as

time goes on, or whether they will evolve along mostly independent paths.

Economic reasons

Media convergence is an economic strategy in which communications companies seek financial

benefit by making the various media properties they own work together. The strategy is a product of three

elements: 1) corporate concentration, whereby fewer large companies own more and more media

properties; 2) digitization, whereby media content produced in a universal computer language can be easily

adapted for use in any medium; and 3) government deregulation, which has increasingly allowed media

conglomerates to own different kinds of media (e.g., television and radio stations and newspapers) in the

same markets, and which has permitted content carriage companies (e.g., cable TV suppliers) to own

content producers (e.g., specialty TV channels). The strategy allows companies to reduce labour,

administrative and material costs, to use the same media content across several media outlets, to attract

increased advertising by providing advertisers with package deals and one-stop shopping for a number of

media platforms, and to increase brand recognition and brand loyalty among audiences through cross-

promotion and cross-selling. At the same time, it raises significantly the barriers to newcomers seeking to

enter media markets, thus limiting competition for converged companies.

Digital Cinemas

CINEMA

People have become increasingly interested in studying new aesthetic forms that have emerged in response

to the potentials of digital media. One such area of interest is digital cinema. Digital cinema can refer to

many different things, ranging from the use of digital cameras in film production or digital projection in film

exhibition to the use of the web as a delivery system for films. The Digital Cinema conference explored

many different aspects of this topic.

SDTV

Standard digital television

HDTV

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High definition television

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