The future of the electronic media - why digital?

Michał Wierusz-Kowalski

The world is becoming digital. Soon the reality will be a perfect combining of telecommunication technologies, electronics and PCs. Even today, apart from the professional broadcasters there are ordinary, individual users and apart from programmes for the average, mass audience we have programmes with specialized content. Also, next to a few analogue channels, integrated (multimedia) channels are becoming available. In other words, those media which are important for the general public are changing into digital forms of communication. The process is irreversible and in order to understand this evolution and the ways in which broadcasters should respond to it, the changes should be considered in four, interconnected areas: technologies, the market context, the behaviour of consumers and legal regulations.

KEYWORDS

New media, digital technology, interactive television, globalization of media companies