It’s January 2, 2009, which means that Australia’s three commercial TV networks are allowed to launch their own standard-definition digital TV channels to run alongside their existing main channels and HD offshoots. While this strategy has been very successful in driving uptake of digital TV in European markets, it seems our local networks can’t be bothered. As Nick Tabakoff
reports at The Australian, the first such service (a sports channel from 10) won’t roll until April, even though the January 2009 start date has been known since late 2006. While TV networks legitimately complain about the effect piracy has on their business models, it’s hard to feel sympathetic when they deliberately ignore an opportunity to offer a better service, especially given how hard they fight against any attempts to let other people access TV spectrum.
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