Policy aids digital television development

Not long ago, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and the Sixth Department of the State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television jointly issued the "On Popular Digital Terrestrial TV Receivers." Implementation Opinions.

It is understood that the Opinions require the use of terrestrial digital television receivers in the next 3-5 years, and clearly stipulates that all TVs sold in China should have terrestrial digital TV reception functions to meet the consumer's free and normal viewing since 2015. The demand for digital terrestrial television will achieve terrestrial digital television reception by 2020.

The new regulations will be implemented in two phases: From January 1, 2014, 40-inch and 40-inch televisions sold in China's domestic market should have digital terrestrial television reception function; from January 1, 2015, China’s territory All size TVs sold should have digital terrestrial television reception. The Opinions require that the products sold should meet the national standards for digital terrestrial television receivers. Before the deadline, the inventory products that do not have terrestrial digital TV reception function should be distributed with terrestrial digital TV set-top boxes; the use of live satellite set-top boxes and the addition of terrestrial digital television receivers in rural areas where cable television networks do not reach are encouraged. Set-top box products should also comply with terrestrial digital television receiver national standards.

The plan will drive the overall market Owen Consulting analyst Zhou Hao believes that the "opinions" from the policy level clear the TV industry digital-analog conversion time table, will effectively stimulate the penetration of the digital TV market, digital terrestrial television development prospects worth the wait. The company's statistics show that in 2012, the market penetration rate of digital all-in-one machines was 21%, of which the penetration rate of cable-based digital all-in-one machines was 14.6%, and the penetration rate of digital terrestrial integrated machines was 6.4%.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology explicitly stated in the “12th Five-Year Plan for Digital Television and Digital Home Industry” that during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, the sales revenue of the digital TV industry should maintain steady and rapid growth, and the scale of digital home applications should continue to expand. By 2015, The output value of the audiovisual industry, which is dominated by digital television and digital homes, has doubled from 2010, reaching 2 trillion yuan. The export volume has reached 100 billion US dollars, and the industrial added value rate has reached 25%.

At present, the domestic urban market has entered the era of big video, digital television, IPTV, Internet TV, smart TV and so on. The rural market, on the other hand, relied on "hutong" and dual-mode set-top boxes to receive satellite signal programs and local television programs. Digital terrestrial television signal transmission is mainly due to security coverage considerations.

Previously, the relevant state agencies had issued plans to require the conversion of analog signals to digital signals by the end of 2015. At present, the development of digital TV in various localities is not smooth, local differences are large, market behavior is weak, and it needs policy promotion. Zhou Hao believes that the introduction of the "Opinions" will help the upgrading of digital television, which is good news for color TV companies. The improvement of product features can better meet the needs of consumers.

Wu Chunyong, editor-in-chief of the triple play research firm, points out that if we simply talk about this policy, we will not produce too many industrial pulls for the industry promotion of terrestrial digital TV receiver terminal market. However, if we continue to develop new commercial models while maintaining the public good attributes of digital terrestrial television, we may be able to drive mobile commercial users in some rural areas or cities. This will affect the entire domestic terrestrial digital TV industry (such as TV manufacturers and chips). Vendors, transmitter vendors, set-top box vendors, hardware and software vendors, etc.) have a pulling role. He believes that the digital terrestrial TV market and user population are basically concentrated in the vast rural areas, which is determined by the number of programs. According to the current regulations, the content of terrestrial digital television related channels is generally one set for CCTV, CCTV news channel, related provincial TV, relevant prefecture-level TV stations, and relevant county/township/town television stations, for a total of 6 sets of programs; From the perspective of its technical standards, it applies to a wide area where there are not too many tall buildings to block; at the same time, the greatest advantage of terrestrial digital TV technology is that it is not necessary to invest heavily in one-to-one network laying.

It is understood that digital terrestrial television as a digital television, with free and public interest and other features, including the number of channels is much less rich than cable TV. The current terrestrial wireless set-top boxes have a very small inventory, which is far lower than that of cable set-top boxes and direct-to-satellite set-top boxes. The state clearly stipulates that terrestrial television can only be of a public interest nature, and operators cannot charge users. Therefore, operators have low enthusiasm for promoting terrestrial television.

Zhou Hao believes that due to the installation of digital terrestrial television reception, the cost of color TV manufacturing companies will increase, corporate profits may be further diluted or passed on to consumers, resulting in an increase in the price of terrestrial digital one machine, the country will issue a corresponding subsidy policy , still have to wait and see. However, the "Opinions" are implemented for large-size products. At present, the market share of 40-inch and above television sets is relatively small, and consumers who purchase such products have a lower sensitivity to price, and the impact of rising product prices on the market is not significant. .

Wu Chunyong believes that after the all-in-one development of the integrated machine, it should be cheaper than the user to purchase the terrestrial digital TV set-top box separately.

Selecting All-in-One Machines to Discriminate the Mode While statistics show that the popularity of digital all-in-one machines is not high, consumers who purchase such products complain about them. Mr. Chen, a consumer in Guangzhou, said that the all-in-one machine he bought could not receive digital television signals after moving. Later he consulted with local cable operators to know that Guangzhou Digital TV has two networks, one is Guangdong Provincial Network, and the other is Guangzhou City Network. The all-in-one manufacturer signed an agreement with the provincial cable TV operator. The all-in-one machine can be used within the provincial network, but they did not cooperate with the cable TV operators in Guangzhou, and Mr. Chen happened to have moved his home to the city's cable operators. The "build-up site" of the business, and the one-in-one machine that entered the provincial network, became the "no black house". Since Mr. Chen’s purchase of the all-in-one machine was not authorized by the city’s cable operators, it would not be sufficient to go to the city’s network for “licensing”. He also needed to purchase a set-top box.

Mr. Liu, a consumer in Shandong Province, also reported to this newspaper that he had bought a digital all-in-one machine not long ago, but he found that he could not receive cable digital TV signals after the goods arrived at home. After consulting with the installers, he discovered that he had purchased a terrestrial digital all-in-one. To watch cable digital TV programs, he also needed to purchase cable set-top boxes from local operators.

According to reports, at the end of 2012, the Consumer Protection Committee of Qingdao Municipality issued a consumer notification on the 15th of 2012 for consumer complaints about multiple high-definition digital all-in-one machines that were received one after another. To understand the purchase. The relevant person in charge of the Qingdao City Consumer Protection Committee stated that although the digital integrated machine has a high degree of integration, it can realize full digitalization, and the all-in-one design also avoids cluttered wiring. But at the same time there are drawbacks: it is more difficult to handle when the TV signal needs to be upgraded, maintenance is also more troublesome, and it may also be due to incompatibility of the decoding problem with the local TV signal. Therefore, high-definition digital all-in-one machines currently have the problem of "imperfection of water and soil".

In response to consumer complaints, the Qingdao Municipal Consumer Protection Committee reminded relevant companies and consumers: When manufacturers and malls sell high-definition digital all-in-ones, they must truthfully explain to consumers the restrictions on the use of this TV. Consumers choose independently.

●Expert opinions There is still market space for STBs. After the “Opinions” were issued, some media interpreted them as “Since January 1, 2015, STBs will gradually exit the market as a transitional product.” Experts believe that this is a policy. Misreading. Set-top boxes and digital integrated machines will coexist for a long time in the market.

● Wu Chunyong, Chief Editor of Fusion Network, a researcher of triple play, currently has satellites for digital TVs.

Wired and ground wireless, Internet and other transmission methods. Relatively speaking, set-top boxes are also divided into wireless terrestrial television, satellite television, cable television, OTT, IPTV and other five systems. "This document mainly focuses on free terrestrial digital television signals." Wu Chunyong believes that digital cable TV set-top boxes and Internet set-top boxes will not be affected, and the functions will be more abundant and perfect.

● Skyworth Digital’s spokesperson, Li Congxiang: The set-top box bears the value-added services of operators. The domestic digital channels are currently operated by operators. The operators in each city are different. The decoding format of set-top boxes is also different. The set-top boxes won't be available in Wuhan. Digital TVs in different cities can use set-top boxes to enjoy services such as watching back, large pushes, etc., and these services must be implemented through set-top boxes. It is almost impossible to enjoy these services for free. From the operator's point of view, it is almost impossible for a set-top box to exit the market.

● Gehua Cable Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Luo Xiaobu: The operator's user market can be divided into two parts: existing market and new market. The existing market refers to users who have purchased TV sets. The new market is TV. Users who purchase new TVs for update or other reasons. Digital all-in-ones and set-top boxes will coexist for a long time, which is the two most important means for operators to develop users. At present, it has become the consensus of the industry to convert the stock market with set-top boxes and to develop incremental markets with digital integrated machines. There are still many places where HD set-top boxes are needed in China, and the international market is also very space.