1 Media fusion and future TV: examining multi-screen TV convergence in Singapore Trisha T.C. Lin Assistant Professor, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore,
[email protected] Abstract This study examines Singapore’s national media blueprint and industry stakeholders’ coping strategies in response to multi-screen TV development. The findings show Singapore muti-screen TV development is still at a nascent stage after launching Media Fushion and FutureTV plans in mid 2009. The policymakers play a key role to follow national media blueprint to unify the inter-industry and cross-country collaboration. TV operators and telcos are found to remediate themselves by harnessing the power of internet and mobile technologies for content innovation and distribution. To tackle the complicated convergent issues in multi-screen TV industry, this study proposes to separately regulate the technology-neutral platforms and diverse audiovisual content. It also recommends a pro-innovative policy with the light-touch licensing scheme and loose content regulation to facilitate the development of the next TV. Keywords: three-screen TV, multi-screen TV, convergence, media fusion, IPTV, mobile TV, cross-platform, TV technologies, TV market, TV policy 1. Introduction The prevalence of Internet and mobile technologies has shaped TV industry dramatically in video consumption, content creation and distribution, and business models. The convergent video technologies allow viewers to watch audiovisual content with personalized experiences cross three screens: TVs, computers, and mobile devices. Since 2009, “three-screen TV” has emerged as a trendy phrase which refers to the integrated solutions for multi-screen video consumption at anywhere, anytime (AT&T, 2010; Krazit, 2009).