Future of Broadcast Television

For many years, Governments took the lead in setting national standards for TV broadcasting, usually taking account of the views of national broadcasters and indigenous manufacturers. Starting in the mid-1980s, the European Commission made several attempts to achieve harmonised TV standards across Europe - fortunately, these initiatives eventually failed. The advent of digital broadcasting in the 1990s offered the possibility of global standards - but the "not invented here" syndrome ensured incompatible regional standards (e.g. ATSC, DVB, ISDB and DTMB). In recent years, Governments and regulators in Europe have adopted a policy of technological neutrality, thus handing responsibility to industry groups such as DVB. With the benefit of hindsight, we can see that many decisions on national or international TV standards were either short-sighted or simply crazy.

Looking ahead, how can we avoid making similar mistakes in the future?

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