MAJ dual dilemma - Antiquated Legislation and DSO

Let’s play a love game

Play a love game

Do you want love

Or you want fame

Are you in that game?

Excerpt from the Song LoveGame by Lady Gaga

The call by the MAJ (Media Association of Jamaica) with regards to the updating of legislation as it relates to libel, use of electronic recordings i.e. still photographs, video or audio, be they digital or analog at the time of recording in Government Buildings, particularly Court Houses and the negative impact of proposal put forward by the Government of Jamaica for broadcasts continuously thought the day in time allowed for such on broadcasts on the media outlets, stands in stark contrast to the choice that now hangs before the Broadcasters as it relates to DSO (Digital Switch Over) as stated in the article “Slow road to digital switch-over  - Cable groups mum; Flow ahead but network coverage behind”, published: Saturday  August 15, 2009 by Mark Titus, Gleaner Writer, The Jamaica Gleaner, (https://www.jamaica-gleaner.com), which relate more DIRECTLY to their survival as opposed to their loss of independence due to frequent Government Broadcasters as that is what the Broadcasters will become after DSO.

John Public surmises it is the Broadcasters and Newspapers who have their priorities wrong. Their focus should be on increasing their advertising revenue, especially as the Chinese are coming who may not be competing for the same advertising dollar but nonetheless be taking away some of the eyeballs that normally watch and view Broadcast Television and Radio as slyly hinted in the article “Chinese media proposal troubles local interest group”, published: Tuesday April 6, 2010, The Jamaica Gleaner, (http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com). Hence why my piece is so short, as this is ground already covered but summarized to show overall trends.

By now everyone must have seen the wonder that is 3-D television on Smile Jamaica broadcast on the April 5^th 2010, been aware of the power of Skype to communicate over long distances for pennies as alluded to in the article “Skype on TV: Will the videophone be a reality?”, published March 2, 2010 4:00 AM PST by Erica Ogg CNET News - Circuit Breaker, (http://news.cnet.com), and YouTube and it availability of content on demand as stated in the article “Time Warner, YouTube ink distribution pact” published August 19, 2009 12:34 PM PDT by Larry Dignan CNET News - Digital Media, (http://news.cnet.com). These are all the necessary element of a more interactive Broadcast in terms of Radio and Television under DSO, which promises all this and more in an experience that is both immersive and entertaining.

The bugs left to figure out are Microsoft’s Project Natal as posted as E3 2009  Project Natal Milo demo on YouTube, downloaded Friday April 7^th 2010 (my first YouTube reference!!!) that should allow the user the ability to interact with the computer using their own natural body movement, Augmented Reality that allows real-time information based on geo-location as stated in the article “Augmented Reality Goes mobile”, published November 3, 2009, 12:44AM EST By Rachael King, BusinessWeek - AUGMENTED REALITY, the use of Behavioral Targeted Marketing a means of allowing users to choose what advertisers advertise to them based on their Social Networking preferences as stated in the article “Study: Like it or not, behavioral ad targeting works”, published March 24, 2010 9:01 AM PDT by Caroline McCarthy, CNET News – The Social, (http://news.cnet.com).

Facial Recognition to enable easier identification both for Social Networking and security purposes as suggested in the article “Face.com opens its face recognition tech to devs”, published May 3, 2010 10:00 AM PDT, by Josh Lowensohn, CNET News, (http://news.cnet.com) is also in the mix for the future. Combined with VAS (Value Added Services) such as Paid-Per-View Programming, Online Voting for scientific statistic polls, Election Voting for Government of Jamaica, Personalized Targeted Advertising, Geo-Location Services and Personal Tracking Services, Augmented Viewing Services, Phone Directory Services, Market Surveys, Channel slots for other broadcasters among other service offerings, Broadcasters problems are solved.

Thus in my very short piece, John Public is curious about the MAJ, which showed how unaware it was of the changing fortunes of broadcasting, which bring with it an ill wind of change for some who do not readily adjust to the fact that the coming of 3G and 4G networks is not only real, it is a direct threat to the traditional broadcasters, especially in light of the report by research note by Morgan Stanley intern Matthew Robson, aged fifteen (15) years old, which he wrote in 2009, entitled  “How Teenagers Consume Media: the report that shook the City”, printed by the Guardian Newspaper, Monday 13 July 2009 10.23 BST, The Guardian (https://www.theguardian.co.uk) and now the shockwaves being felt by the findings of the 2009 All Media Survey

The Jamaica All Media Survey, which for the first time has begun tracking the effects of the internet on newspapers, which are already showing early signs of death which ironically the Apple iPad is the saviour as stated in the review “Early reviews: iPad is 'beautiful', 'blazingly fast', 'has a touch of genius'”, published Wednesday April 1 2010 by Ben Patterson, Yahoo! News, (http://news.yahoo.com). Oh how the times have changed, as older folks do not consume products, but the young are the new potential market and as such even media personality people are bending themselves out of shape in order to attract the younger generation to a traditional media that is not as interactive as the internet, but must adapt or face certain starvation as 3G and 4G networks grow and are set to explode in the Summer of 2010.

Thus the obvious becomes clear: increased Internet interaction has resulted in people thus spending more of their leisure time on computers and mobile devices, the latest growth area for Telecoms Providers as hinted in the article “Boom times ahead for mobile Web access”, published  Fri Apr 24, 2009 12:05AM EDT  By Daniel Silva, AFP. The last thing I would prescribe is watching if the above trends last, which are but a few currently that I am watching take hold with the young that strongly suggest an increased tendency towards increased interactivity, which even media experts such as Marcia Forbes has begun researching in her in her article “Twitter, Twits and Tweets”, published Thursday 22^nd April 2010 by Marcia Forbes, the Jamaica Observer, (http://www.jamaicaobserver.com).

Change is as inevitable as the winds, as not only is DSO coming for the Broadcasters with financial benefits as their spectrum is coveted by Telecoms Providers from abroad interested in coming into Jamaica as alluded to in the article “TV white Spaces Networks tested”, published February 24, 2010 4:06 PM PST by Marguerite Reardon, CNET News - Signal Strength, (http://news.cnet.com), but MNP for the Telecoms Providers as a means of increasing Phone Number usage efficiency as published in the article “OUR signals policy shift on portability - Says Jamaica running out of phone numbers”, published Friday November 20, 2009 by Mark Titus, Business Reporter, The Friday Gleaner, (http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com)also being initiated as a means of fighting crime as stated in the article “Cellphone monitoring important to fighting crime - Nelson - Government introduces mandatory registration of subscribers”, published Saturday, May 01, 2010,  by ALICIA DUNKLEY, The Jamaica Observer, (http://www.jamaicaobserver.com).. Love and Fame ……you cannot have both...