CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES OF DIGITAL MIGRATION
CHALLENGES ANDPERSPECTIVES OF DIGITALMIGRATION FOR AFRICAN MEDIABy Guy Berger
CONTENTSCHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES OFDIGITAL MIGRATION FOR AFRICAN MEDIAISBN 978086104621First EditionTitle: Challenges and Perspectives ofDigital Migration for African MediaAuthor: Guy Berger2010Panos Institute of West AfricaDakar, Senegal.www.panos-ao.org.6 rue Calmette, BP 21132 Dakar (Senegal)Tel: (221) 33. 849.16.66Fax: (221) 33.822.17.61Highway Africa, African Media Matrix, Upper Prince Alfred StreetRhodes UniversityGrahamstown, 6410South AfricaDesign and layout: Kaitlin Keetkaitlinkeet@co.zaText editing and proofreading: Danika Marquis3Contents4Preface6Executive Summary8Introduction11Digital migration – definitions and issues60Radio71Television74Awareness and preparation in Africa81Strategies in operation87Recommendations to stakeholders92Bibliography, Panos Institute West Africaterms of reference for this study, List ofacronyms
PREFACEPanos Institute West Africa (PIWA) has pleasure in welcoming thisbooklet. It is work commissioned by PIWA in collaboration withRhodes University as a knowledge resource especially for thoseworking in community radio in Africa.The publication takes a complex subject, digital migration, andseeks to explain it in language that non-experts can understand.This accords with PIWA’s interests in spreading knowledge tomake a difference to media in West Africa as well as more broadlyaround the continent.Digital communication technologies as well as the convergenceof telecommunications and the media have changed the mediasector completely. In terms of media development, we arecurrently witnessing progressive migration from analogue todigital production and broadcasting, hence the appearance ofradio and digital television. Terrestrial digital television encouragesan increase in the number of programmes available, improvesquality and accessibility and creates new media services. Digitalradio offers improved sound and reception, new multimediafunctions - receivers can be equipped with screens to broadcastimages and texts (programme or song titles, etc.).Digital migration also offers a solution to frequency congestionand encourages more programmes. In addition, digitalbroadcasting (radio and TV) offers other benefits in terms ofmanaging the frequency spectrum available, regional planning, areduction in energy consumption and costs, etc.Today, these various benefits make a move to digital broadcasting(known as digital migration) imperative for television and radio.This is why the International Telecommunications Union hasrecommended all countries to move to digital broadcasting bythe year 2015.While the West had already begun this process several yearsago, in Africa this issue has rarely been discussed or taken intoaccount, except in rare countries such as South Africa. Theend of analogue broadcasting and the production of dedicatedequipment are likely to give rise to serious problems in Africasuch as: problems of maintaining infrastructures which remainanalogue and the further ‘Balkanisation’ of African production, etc.In addition, the move to digital broadcasting brings with it othercrucial challenges regarding regulation planning, pluralism ofinformation, media development and access for all to new digitalequipment, and increasing dependency beyond national bordersin the sector.With deliberate implementation, digital migration could lead togreater information pluralism and more diversity, and it could also4assist civil society and good governance. What will make such apositive difference is the way that law, policy and practice evolves.On the other side, uninformed policy, law and practice will reduce,rather than expand, the role of African media in informing thepeoples of the continent.This booklet aims to contribute to awareness-raising in WestAfrica (and beyond), of the importance of digital migration andthe need to create appropriate strategies in order to maximizebenefits and limit risks. It contributes towards evolving bestpractice governance for African communications in regard todigital migration. What it reveals is that the phenomenon, whichis part of the digitalisation of communications more generally,requires regulation systems to adapt change.While the views in this booklet are those of the author and notnecessarily of PIWA itself, we are pleased to make it available to awider audience of media stakeholders.Diana Senghor, Director, PIWA.The Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA) is a regional non-governmental organization,which contributes to democratising communication, and consolidating public spacefor open African societies, where citizens’ opinions are illuminated, and their voicesamplified and heard.PIWA supports:- Public debate and political dialogue on key development issues in Africa;- Creating a body of knowledge on media development and the challenges ofcommunication for development;- Producing and disseminating quality media content, produced by Africansthemselves;- Capacity building of actors of social change to be heard.PIWA unites, facilitates and innovates at the regional level for:- Democratic and open African societies, based on public space that promoteschange and social justice;- Assured and exercised rights, opportunities and skills for African citizens to beinformed and communicate;- An image of Africa which reflects African concerns, and produced by them;- A leading institution in the sector of communication and information in Africa,committed to excellence.PIWA is based in Dakar, Senegal, and is a member of the global network of PanosInstitutes.Panos Institute West Africa, 6 Rue Calmette, BP 21 132 Dakar Ponty, Dakar-Senegal.Tel 221 33 849 16 66, Fax 221 33 822 17 61,Mail: panos@panos-ao.org Web: www.panos-ao.org5
SUMMARYExecutive SummaryThis booklet sets out the issues involved in digital transformation inbroadcast media from the viewpoint of African media stakeholdersand, especially, community radio stations. It aims to correctwidespread misconceptions that analogue radio will have to beswitched off in the next five years as part of “digital migration”. Atthe same time, it warns that the digitisation of broadcast televisionsignals has implications for radio stations around the continent.The same goes for digitisation more broadly, as internet growthalso has implications for radio stations. The study has beencommissioned by the Panos Institute West Africa, which has aparticular interest in community radio.In the nature of the subject matter, the scope of this study hashad to be wider than community radio – precisely because of theimpact of the larger transitions on this sector.As background to these issues, the booklet outlines the originsand meanings of “digital migration”, and analyses the technical,policy, and economic implications of the process. There isinformation about preparedness in several African countries, withparticular reference to lessons arising from South Africa as oneof the frontrunners.One key recommendation of this booklet is that there is norush for African countries to undertake the very costly and highlycomplex move from analogue to digital TV. Another is that thisparticular transition is just one process (albeit a very important one)in the wider perspective of building the African Information Societyby means of many digital-related changes to communications.It is further recommended that each country needs a broadbased and inclusive stakeholder forum so as to formulatecomprehensive policy for the whole digital panorama (involvingboth broadcasting and internet sectors, and their stakeholders).For those with interests in community radio, in particular, there isa need to widen horizons in order to plot a way forward throughever-more complicated terrain.7
INTRODUCTIONIntroductionThe world of broadcasting is going through a profound change,due to the development of digital technology. There is a lot ofmisunderstanding around this, with even government ministerssuch as South Africa’s late Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri sometimesproclaiming that broadcast digital migration will end the digitaldivide and give African audiences access to the Internet. That’snot correct. There is a very big picture of digital communicationsthat does cover both broadcasting and internet access, butbroadcast digital migration on its own does not automaticallymean that these two issues become a single thing, nor eventhat they become integrated developments. There can be aconnection, but most of Africa is still operating in separate silosfor these two digital developments.For broadcasting, digital change over the next ten years impactsprimarily on television (TV) – and not just TV by any method ofdelivery, but especially that which is broadcast by ground-levelsignals. In other words, satellite TV (which today is generally digitalanyway) is a different story, and is typically not seen as part ofdigital migration. Thus, the new era is more accurately dubbedthe transition to “Digital Terrestrial TV” (DTTV or sometimesabbreviated to DTT) to distinguish it from digital TV by othermeans (eg. satellite, cable or internet).However, it would be a mistake to think that what happensin DTT is an absolutely separate world from radio, or that theimpact of DTT is irrelevant to radio. Instead, the changes have alot of significance for the extent to which TV serves as a rival ora complementary medium to radio. There is also the questionof whether digital TV can even be a new additional platform forradio, where people use TV sets as radios. Furthermore, whathappens with regard to spectrum frequency with digital TValso has implications for radio (and for wireless internet). Thus,as elaborated later in this booklet, DTT impacts on the role andprospects for radio, including community radio.Meanwhile, outside of how digital television can impact onanalogue radio, there is also a level of direct digitisation of radiobroadcasting, in limited degrees around the world. This processis also something of interest to the radio sector in Africa.9
The purpose of this booklet is to serve as a guide for every personwith an interest in the whole subject of digital change in Africa, andespecially in digital broadcasting. It is written to assist anyone whofeels confused or ignorant about what the changes are about. Andeven those readers with some expertise on the subject will stilllikely find points of interest in these pages. Ultimately, knowledgeand understanding about this epochal transformation can helpall stakeholders better engage in the process, and even help tosteer it.Whether you are a policy-maker, a manager of a communityradio station, a media educator or simply a user of broadcasting,you are affected by these historic developments that are shapingAfrican and global communications as a whole.Digital migration(definitions and issues)10
DIGITAL MIGRATIONThis section of the booklet clarifies the concept and practice ofdigital migration with regard to the whole broadcasting valuechain. It summarises the social, policy, regulatory, technologicaland economic challenges for the whole media sector and forthe key stakeholders on the continent. In so doing, this sectionalso examines the opportunities and constraints, and possiblealternatives. These have a strong bearing on the issues ofmedia and information pluralism, North-South and South-Northdynamics, and access to public information issues, especiallyfor disadvantaged communities. These important matters arereturned to in the conclusion of the booklet.2.1 What is digital migration?Until the 1990s, broadcasting was mainly a matter of transferringsound or video streams through the airwaves (or in somedeveloped countries, through cable as well) by means ofanalogue signals. This was a linear process, with each element inthe content stream taking its turn to transmit behind the one thatwent before it. This worked well enough, except for one thing: itrequired a lot of bandwidth, i.e. a lot of capacity was taken up onwireless electronic frequencies in order to carry signals in thismanner. The knock-on effect of this was that in the realm of theairwaves, this meant that only a limited number of stations couldbe accommodated on the radio spectrum. A radio frequency likeFM 105.7 would, for instance, be available for use by a singleanalogue radio station. Other frequencies were often unsuitablefor audio transmission, or were better used for TV or cellulartelephony, or were reserved for military communications. In TV,which uses UHF and VHF frequencies, it was the same story: onestation, one frequency. With limited frequencies, the effect was alimit to the number of stations.Much of this changed with the advent of digital electronics.These technologies meant that sound and video, as well as textand still images, could be stored and transmitted in the formof binary digits. These “one’s” and “zero’s” correspond to on-offelectrical pulses. It is easy to see the advantages this has for12electronic communication:* First, there is a common currency – audio, pictures, text areall reduced to binary data. That’s why software programmes canchange the size of text just by applying a mathematical formulato the foundation data. It’s why music can be represented asrhythmic images, and why software can automatically read writtentext out loud in audio form. It is also the reason that a programmelike TinEye image identification can map where, within a massiveamount of images on the Internet, duplicates are to be found(whether authorised or pirated). (Google’s Picasa programme forindexing photos on a computer can similarly work with imagerecognition – find a face, name it, and the software finds otherpictures of the same person on your hard-drive). Digital is also whyyou can find cellphone services that let you save music on yourmobile device, let you find the name of the tune online and evenlink you through to similar kinds of music.* Second, digital data can be compressed through algorithms.Simply put, this means that large patterns of “ones” and “zeros”can be mapped and called into action through much smallerpatterns of “ones” and “zeros”. For example, code to representa shade of blue on a computer screen does not need to repeatthe sequence for every pixel of space on the screen – instead, itonly has to set out a blanket instruction for every pixel to invokethe same code (for blueness). This means that more contentcan be stored electronically on less space than previously.What such compression also does is to allow for more contentto be transmitted on the same bandwidth than would otherwisebe the case. Many digital television technologies today useMPEG4 compression. And in digital radio, the DAB (Digital AudioBroadcasting) standard still uses an outdated MP2 compressioncodec, while the newer DAB is far more efficient with MP4.* Third, digital compression also means that data can be brokenup into in many separate and simultaneous “packets”. These“packets” can be re-assembled in the right order (according to13
the code instructions) at the destination. Thus, there’s a torrent ofsmall signals of data bits that are unleashed through the systemsimultaneously, instead of being in the form of stitched-togetherand sequenced messages that have to wait their turn in a linearqueue. By contrast, the old analogue flow wasted bandwidth withpauses and blank spaces between electronic data signals. Inother words, digital distribution gives us much greater efficienciesin the use of bandwidth.The significance of all this for broadcasting is that, presto,many more radio and TV channels can be squeezed into theexact same frequency space than is possible under analoguetransmission. For instance, a digitised signal can allow for up toten TV channels (standard definition) to be broadcast, whereasa single analogue channel would require the whole frequency.For this to happen, several streams of broadcast content haveto be combined into the single signal, in a process known asMultiplexing (elaborated later in this booklet). The space freedup by switching to DTT is known as the “digital dividend” and itmeans that some of the vacated bandwidth can be used for otherpurposes. For instance, the “dividend” can allow for broadcastersto introduce multiple sound-tracks and language subtitling aspart of the video channel on digital TV. Similarly, with the caseof digital radio, a Multiplex can facilitate an ensemble of up to 50channels on a single signal.What digital also makes technically possible is flexible use of theairwaves – for example, a TV broadcaster can decide to increasethe compression (and quality) of most of its TV channels for aparticular event, so as to make some extra space available for abandwidth-hungry High Definition (HD) broadcast of that specificoccasion. Technically, the same TV broadcaster could alsorun radio services at certain times of the day on the Multiplex,and switch to TV or data streams at others. In this way, digitalbroadcasting allows for channels within channels. This, in turn,has a bearing on licensing – for example, whether a broadcastershould be entitled to do its own thing, or simply notify a regulatorwhen it exploits flexibility (to deliver a changing mix of audio14and video channels), or whether it needs to go through timeconsuming licence amendments each time. This further relates towhether licenses are given out in terms of use of a total amount ofmegabits per second on a Multiplex, without specifying categoriesand quotas for this use, or whether there are also particularobligations (such as minimums for local content, language orprogramme genres, requirements around election periods, etc.).Digital streams of content are also amenable to being stored onthe receiving device, providing the user with the power to pauseand even rewind up to a point.Against this whole backdrop, digital migration is the processby which broadcasting around the world today is switching frominefficient analogue signals to more efficient digital ones. This isprimarily in the distribution (transmission) of broadcasting. In fact,without digital transmission, you don’t have digital migration, evenif production and reception are digital. Digital distribution, however,has a major bearing on both the production and consumptiondimensions of broadcasting. The phrase “digital migration”, strictlyspeaking, should designate the value chain as a whole, and whatthis means is that digitisation of just one single stage (eg. digitalcapture and editing of audio) is still very far from being fully-fledgedmigration. Many radio stations in Africa, for example, already usedigital equipment for producing programmes. But contrary tosome misconceptions, this does not equate to readiness for digitalmigration. The radio signal distributors and the radio audiencesalso need to be digitally migrated, and that is at least a decadeaway.What also merits mentioning is that most cases of digitalmigration do not mean that analogue transmissions (whether TVor radio) cease one day and digital broadcasting begins the next.There is typically a lengthy overlap envisaged. This is because along process is needed in which broadcasters, signal distributors,regulators, manufacturers, governments and the public alignthemselves so that the digital transition will work successfully.This is especially acute on the consumer side, where millions ofpeople are saddled with analogue sets that were never designedto receive digital signals directly. Until a threshold of public uptake15
is reached during a transitional period, it is not possible to reachthe final moment of “digital switch over”, where the analoguetransmissions are turned off and the “digital dividend” can bereleased for other purposes. To have a premature analogueswitch-off would leave millions without access to broadcasting.2.2 The broadcast value-chainAs already noted, transmitting (sending out) broadcast content isa central element in a wider chain of broadcast comm
Title: Challenges and Perspectives of Digital Migration for African Media Author: Guy Berger 2010 Panos Institute of West Africa Dakar, Senegal. www.panos-ao.org. 6 rue Calmette, BP 21132 Dakar (Senegal) Tel: (221) 33. 849.16.66 Fax: (221) 33.822.17.61 Highway Africa, African Media
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