Digital television in Australia

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Digital television in Australia comes in many forms:

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Digital terrestrial television in Australia commenced on 1 January 2001 in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth using DVB-T standards. The phase out of analogue PAL transmissions began in 30 June 2010 and was completed by 10 December 2013.

Freeview is the brand name of the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia intended to bring all of free-to-air (FTA) broadcasters onto a consistent marketing platform, to compete against subscription television, in particular Foxtel. The strategy coincided with the expansion to 3 digital channels for each FTA network and the planned phasing out of analog television in Australia. Important services from Freeview include its free-to-air channels with an enhanced EPG across all channels. Freeview also certifies televisions, set-top boxes and personal video recorders (PVR) which meet its standards.

High-definition television in Australia is available via cable, IPTV, satellite and terrestrial television. The first high-definition broadcasts began in 2001 and since then the number of channels available to view has grown to a maximum of 27 that can be viewed on pay-TV service, Foxtel.

Historical Services

Optus Aurora was a free-to-view satellite television platform in Australia, which aimed at providing television and radio services to remote and black spot areas using the Optus C1 and B3 satellites. The service was available in all areas, using a standard satellite dish and set top box, however commercial stations carried on the platform were restricted to their respective coverage areas.

See also

Internet television in Australia is the digital distribution of movies and television content via the Internet. In Australia, Internet television is provided by five major pay-per-view providers, in addition to several niche television streaming services. Australia's five major free-to-air television networks all offer catch up TV of previously broadcast content to watch via the Internet or via podcasts - drawing on both domestic and foreign content. A feature of Internet television is that a user can view TV or video on demand. Some distributors provide content as downloads, whiles other streaming media; the main difference being that with downloads the end-user must have storage capacity for the content on their device and must wait for the download to be completed before the content can be viewed, while streamed content can be viewed almost immediately, but is not stored for a later second viewing.

Digital television transition

The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover (DSO), the analog switch-off (ASO), the digital migration, or the analog shutdown, is the process in which older analog television broadcasting technology is converted to and replaced by digital television. Conducted by individual nations on different schedules, this primarily involves the conversion of analog terrestrial television broadcasting infrastructure to digital terrestrial (DTT), a major benefit being extra frequencies on the radio spectrum and lower broadcasting costs, as well as improved viewing qualities for consumers.

Subscription television in Australia consists of a dominant cable and satellite television provider Foxtel, with several smaller cable and satellite service providers operating in limited geographic areas. Other providers of Internet television in Australia offer free content or pay-per-view, but do not offer a subscription service.

Related Research Articles

Foxtel Australian pay television company

Foxtel Management Pty Limited is an Australian pay television company, operating in cable television, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in 1995 through a joint venture established between News Corporation and Telstra, with News Corp being the 65% and Telstra the 35% shareholders respectively. It shares many features with the Sky service in the United Kingdom, including iQ, the electronic program guide, a similar remote control, and Red Button Active.

Optus Television is the cable television division of Australian telecommunications company Optus.

Sky (New Zealand)

Sky Network Television Limited is a New Zealand pay television satellite TV provider. It is also a wholesale channel provider to New Zealand cable television provider Vodafone. On 30 June 2019, Sky had 778,840 subscribers across satellite and OTT services, making it the largest pay television platform in New Zealand, but still a lower amount than in 2016, when subscriber numbers peaked at over 850,000. Despite the similarity of name and services, such as Sky Go and MySky shared with its British equivalent, Sky, there is no connection between the companies.

Pay television, also known as subscription television or premium television, are subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, but also increasingly via digital terrestrial, and streaming television. Subscription television began in the multi-channel transition and transitioned into the post-network era. Some parts of the world, notably in France, Latin America and the United States, have also offered encrypted analog terrestrial signals available for subscription.

Free-to-air (FTA) are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in clear (unencrypted) form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription, other ongoing cost or one-off fee. In the traditional sense, this is carried on terrestrial radio signals and received with an antenna.

Free-to-view (FTV) is a term used for audio and/or video transmissions that are provided free-of-charge without any form of continual subscription but are nevertheless encrypted. It differs from free-to-air (FTA) where content is not encrypted.

Imparja Television (IMP) is an Australian television station servicing remote eastern and central Australia, that began broadcasting on 2 January 1988. It is based in Alice Springs, where it has a studio and satellite uplink facility. Notably, it is controlled by Australian Aboriginals through ownership by Imparja Television Pty Ltd, and is widely regarded as a symbol of Aboriginal Australia. Most viewers receive Imparja via free to view satellite transmission, whilst a smaller proportion receive it via analogue terrestrial transmission.

Indigenous Community Television (ICTV) is an Australian free-to-view digital television channel on the Viewer Access Satellite Television service. It broadcasts television programs produced by, and for, indigenous people in remote communities. The channel is owned by membership-based company Indigenous Community Television Limited. Although ICTV is a community television channel by name and content, it broadcasts using an open-narrowcast licence instead of a standard community television licence.

Expo Channel

Expo Channel is an Australian home shopping channel. It is owned by parent company Direct Group Pty Ltd, a marketing and direct sales company based in Sydney, which also owns sister channel TVSN.

TVSN

TVSN is an Australian and New Zealand broadcast, cable television and satellite television network specializing in home shopping. It is owned by parent company Direct Group Pty Ltd, a home marketing and shopping company based in the Sydney suburb of Frenchs Forest, which also owns sister channel Expo.

QQQ Australian television station

QQQ is an Australian television station broadcasting in remote central and eastern areas of Australia, owned by Southern Cross Austereo. The station is available via satellite and terrestrial platforms – mostly through community retransmission sites, although it also transmits into the town of Mount Isa, Queensland under the call sign ITQ. The station is solely affiliated with the Seven Network.

There are four major forms of digital television (DTV) broadcast in the United Kingdom: a direct-to-home satellite service from the Astra 28.2°E satellites provided by Sky UK, a cable television service provided by Virgin Media ; a free-to-air satellite service called Freesat; and a free-to-air digital terrestrial service called Freeview. In addition, an IPTV system known as BT Vision is provided by BT. Individual access methods vary throughout the country. 77% of the United Kingdom has access to HDTV via terrestrial digital television. Satellite is the only source of HDTV broadcast available for the remaining 23%.

National Indigenous Television Australian television channel

National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced largely by Indigenous Australians.

Westlink (Australian TV channel)

Westlink, formerly known as Westlink Network, was an Australian free-to-view digital television channel broadcast to regional and remote areas of Western Australia on the Viewer Access Satellite Television service. Funded by the Government of Western Australia, the channel was managed and operated by the Department of Regional Development and broadcast a range of community-based content, particularly training and educational programs, using an open-narrowcast licence. The channel was received in over 150 remote locations such as telecentres, schools and colleges.

High-definition television in the United Kingdom is available via cable, IPTV, satellite and terrestrial television. The first high-definition broadcasts began in 2006 and since then the number of channels available to view has grown to a maximum of 87 that can be viewed on pay-TV service, Sky.

The Viewer Access Satellite Television service, or VAST, is a satellite television platform in Australia, providing digital television and radio services to remote and rural areas, as well as viewers in terrestrial black spots. The service using the Optus C1 and Optus D3 satellites. It is partly funded by the Australian Government and managed through a joint-venture between Southern Cross Media and Imparja Television. It is an even more restricted free-to-view replacement for Optus Aurora providing channels which have been absent on the remote service until now. The platform uses only H.264 video encoding and 8PSK, which allows for more lower bit rate channels on the limited transponder space that's available. The EPG uses an MHEG-5 guide instead of the usual more compatible DVB EIT.

The distribution of cable television around the world:

Channelvision

Channelvision was an Australian subscription television channel based in Canberra that screened locally produced content. The channel launched on 1 September 2005 on TransTV, replacing the TransTV Help Channel, and mainly broadcast local content, news, interviews and local sport.

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