Scenario analysis : consumer impact of the Philippines' Migration to Digital Terrestrial Television / Maria Melanie V. Capatayan

Year : 2011

Number of Pages : 79 leaves

Adviser : Prof. Glen A. Imbang

Executive Summary

Television is a significant part of human life. Access to television means access to information, entertainment, and the rest of the world. It has made the world a much smaller place. For over 50 years, television technology has stayed the same. The analog color television standard of the 1950's is still in use today. In the 1980's broadcast engineers initiated the research and development of digital television (DTV) standards. The trial and use of such standards began in early 2000. To date, several countries including the United States and Japan have successfully switched off their analog transmission. The global digitization of television broadcasting is in full swing. Any country that refuses to adopt will soon be left with an obsolete and unsupported technology. This is the scenario the Philippines faces today - DTV migration. The objective of this study is to address the focal issue of overcoming the resistance of lower income households to DTT migration. The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), the telecommunications and broadcast industry regulator, leads the country's effort in finding the DTV standard that best suits the Philippines. The NTC formed multiple technical working groups (TWG) composed of government and industry representatives to conduct technological and sociological studies related to DTV migration. In the quest to find the appropriate standard for the Philippines, there is concern that the most important stakeholder, the television viewer will be left behind. The end-user seems to be given least consideration. In separate interviews earlier this year, top executives of GMA Network and TV5 were quoted saying the following : "Can the local market support the switch to digital technology? We have to consider the market profile." - Gilbert Duavit, President, GMA Network. "We have to think of the consumers, because television is public service. They have to take into account the consumers." - Ray Espinosa, President, ABC Broadcasting Corp. This project reviews the Philippines DTV efforts to determine if due consideration is being given to prepare the consumers for this significant technological shift. After a brief introduction on DTV, and the Philippines current broadcast landscape, Chapter II presents background information on television's technological evolution and its standards. Chapter III's "Review of Related Literature" focused on DTV deployment in other countries and key figures in the use of the scenario method in strategic planning. Technology Management (TM) 281 concepts formed the theoretical framework of the study in Chapter IV. The DTV technological development was analyzed based on two TM resources, Thomas Hughes' Technological Systems and Jun Sundbo's Innovation Paradigms. These concepts were likewise used in the analysis and conclusion. Scenario building was the Methodology used. An environmental scan provides an overview of the Philippines current technological, economic, political and social trends. Three scenarios were created based on key factors and uncertainties, which affect DTV deployment in the Philippines. The data included in this report was a result of desk research on television and DTV development, DTV global adoption, and DTV-related Philippine news reports from February to October 2011. Interviews of broadcast industry representatives were also conducted, as well as a survey of middle class residents of Metro Manila. Survey results showed that the average Filipino viewer from Metro Manila is not aware of the radical changes that are going in the broadcast industry. The digital revolution in transmission is an incremental development in the broadcast industry, but with radical proportions. It will cause the end of analog as a broadcast transmission technology. In order for DTV migration to succeed in the Philippines, the government, with the diligent help of the private sector should work together to first and foremost finalize the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of DTV transition. The IRR will serve as the industry's manual and should have provisions for the critical elements to this transition, market education and set-top box (STB) rollout guidelines. The IRR can mitigate and address the negative consumer impact of the DTT migration.