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Informing Science + IT Education Conference 2003 Proceedings
| Informing Science + IT Education Conference |
| Pori, Finland June 24-27, 2003 |
| More Dominant in their Inactivity: Consumer Response and the Adoption of Digital TV in |
| Deakin University, Australia |
| After much hesitation, discussion, and power brokering, Australia adopted digital TV for its Free-to air broadcasting |
| on January 1, 2001. However, by December 2002, only a few thousand homes had adopted the technology. This |
| paper examines the implementation and regulation of digital TV in Australia from the point of view of the |
| ‘established base’ the new technology will replace, theories on diffusion and innovation of new technologies, and |
| the Justification Model, which sees technology choice as social gambling. It then evaluates the various protectionist |
| regulations and limitations imposed on the technology to safeguard the various stakeholders, the implementation |
| strategies used, lack of digital content, marketing efforts, negative media coverage, and the economic realities of |
| the technology, and argues that if consumers reject the technology altogether, it would lead to Australia missing the |
| future applications of digital technology and the opportunity to address the issue of the ‘digital divide’ in the 21st |
| Keywords: Digital TV, Australian broadcasting, Adoption and diffusion of digital TV, Broadcasting policy and |
| regulation, Diffusion of innovations, Digital broadcasting in Australia, Broadcast spectrum allocation, |
| Protectionism in broadcasting policy, Australian broadcasting policy, consumer response to new technology |
ISSN
1535-07-03
Unless otherwise indicated, this paper has undergone blind external review by three or more reviewers.
Types of Papers: A Best Paper, Regular Paper, Short Paper, Informal Paper,
Unrefereed Panel Paper
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