26. 03. 2009

BEGINNING OF THE AGE OF DIGITAL TELEVISION

Serbian public service broadcaster airs eight hours a day of premiere programme on the "RTS Digital" channel

Belgrade, March 26, 2009 (Politika) – "If we are certain what future will bring, that means that we are not looking far enough", said Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the Internet. However, it is not necessary to go "far enough" to see the future of television – it is already here, only in a new form. We are witnessing the beginning of the age of digital television, which holds numerous advantages: it allows one TV channel a simultaneous broadcasting of four to six TV programmes without a frequency being a limiting factor.

Compared to the analog signal, digital TV is not susceptible to interference and offers high-quality picture without noise ("snow"). Reflections (echo) cannot degrade the reception and the programme can be watched using only a simple aerial, wherever located.

In our country, digital programme is broadcast by Radio-Television of Serbia (RTS). The airing began in 2005 with an experimental programme on the channel 27. "RTS Digital" was launched on November 26, 2008.

- According to estimates, at this moment the digital programme is being distributed to around 300,000 households via cable systems and Telecom's IPTV platform, says Tatjana Citic, Digital Programme Editor of the RTS. - This amounts to almost half a million viewers. Of course, that number does not include 1,700,000 potential viewers who have a technical capability of receiving digital TV signal from broadcasting stations on Avala and Iriski venac. We are satisfied with the achieved, since a plan of allocation of digital broadcasting frequencies still does not exist and the process has only begun.
"RTS Digital" is a 24-hours-a-day art and culture channel with foreign and domestic music programme about jazz and classical music, ballet performed by the world's best troupes, symphonies played by the most renowned orchestras, portraits by great artists...

- We broadcast eight hours of premiere programme each day (from 16.00 to midnight), plus two blocks of re-runs, explains Tatjana Citic. - The choice also includes feature films, foreign and domestic programme, as well as children shows...

A new packet of foreign programmes was bought recently, among others the series "The First Circle", a highly valuable document about Stalin's pogrom of intellectuals, to be aired in April. Alexander Solzhenitsyn spent eight years (1948-1956) in Sharashka, a Siberian camp for scientists, because of criticism of Stalin's policies expressed in private correspondence. He described his experience in prison in a novel and later in a 10-episode series featuring him as a narrator. We should also mention "Palette", a series about fine arts, the series of French author films and "Treasures of Civilization".

Judging by the increasingly dynamic development of digital technology and the pan-regional plan for redistribution of frequencies, the following period will witness intense competition in the world market. Media experts warn that leading TV network spare no effort to acquire digital licenses and fortify their positions in the media scene. We ask Tatjana Ciric: what kind of strategy have we prepared and will RTS get a permanent license soon?

- This is a complex and very demanding process, says Ms Ciric. - Transition from the analogue to digital programme cannot be implemented overnight. In the RTS we are full of energy and enthusiasm, and in the similar vein relevant authorities are working hard to fulfill all conditions for transition to digital broadcasting. According to official recommendations from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), all members of the European Union will move to the digital system until 2011. Of course, we will strive to keep pace with our neighbors in the region. As a first step, we are waiting for a plan of allocation of frequencies.

Last Saturday in the RTS evening news, the minister of telecommunication and information society, Jasna Matic, said that the Broadcasting Law "defines the public service broadcaster as a leader in new technologies, including digitalization". The project has been approved and its pace increased, while new theme programmes are also being considered, among them the programmes for viewers with special needs.