TV used to be simple: a few broadcast channels, government-licensed and tightly regulated. Depending on the country, they had to be politically balanced, protective of children, restricted in their advertising, limited in their ownership by foreigners, supportive of national culture, etc. Later, cable and satellites added numerous channels, and were integrated into this system.
Today, we are entering the next stage, where TV programmes are delivered over the internet and wireless networks to computer and mobile phones. TV is moving from the single screen of the TV set to three screens. As millions of users are getting their entertainment over the internet and mobile phones, media companies are rapidly moving to provide programmes, both traditional in style and new ones. This is not just a matter of new pipes, but of a totally different arrangement, in which viewers access huge libraries of old and new programmes, each person at a time of their choice. With the internet being interactive, new styles and genres of content will emerge that cannot be duplicated by the traditional one-way broadcast medium. And the question faced by governments around the world is whether the old rules that applied to traditional TV should also apply to the new forms of TV.
If TV platforms are treated differently ... [read more]