Philip Evans, Director of the US-based Boston Consulting Group – and internationally regarded expert on media convergence told The Australian that “major audience disintegration for free-to-air TV could occur within a handful of years.”

 http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23420452-643,00.html

Students looking at the effects of new internet technologies on the production and consumption of FTA TV might like to pull out and evaluate Evan’s reasons for predicting a decline:

- TV’s lack of interactivity for FTA consumers and lack of feedback for FTA producers

- Use of Cable TV in 85% of US households already

- Gov’t policy protection only “slowing” impact of technological change

- Key FTA media outlets like BBC are already redefining themselves as “content originators” with many distribution channels (not just “broadcast”)

For Evans, “the key for free-to-airs, in particular, is to stop being a prisoner of their distribution channels: “If they can do that, then they can carve out a very different future.”