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Multiplex (television) - Wikiwand

Australia

The first multichannel broadcast in Australia was ABC Kids, which broadcast from 2001 to 2003; in the succeeding years, the country's commercial broadcasters also launched secondary services to compete against DVDs and online piracy.[5] However, their ability to do so was hampered at first by a ban on adding channels, with a focus on such services as datacasting and high-definition. It was not until 2009 that commercial broadcasters were allowed to add multichannels; in that year, the three major networks all did so, bringing the number of channels they offered from three to eleven.[7]

The original commercial multichannels were generalist in nature, which made it difficult for advertisers to target specific demographics and therefore made them less lucrative. The shift to specifically targeted services and their reliance on existing programming has allowed these channels to survive despite drawing comparatively low shares of the audience: in 2018, 7mate led the group with an audience share of 4.1 percent among metropolitan audiences.[5] However, after the Australian Communications and Media Authority permitted the commercial broadcasters to move required children's programming and national drama commitments to their multichannels, ratings and visibility fell precipitously; by 2013, the ABC had more viewers for its children's channels than the commercial broadcasters combined.[7] The commercial broadcasters also became more reliant on news, sport, and reality competitions on their main channels.[7]

Each of the five major broadcasters offers its own suite of multichannels:[2]

Brazil

In 2009, the Brazilian government ruled that only federally-owned television channels—namely TV Brasil, TV Senado, TV Câmara, TV Justiça, and TV Globo—could offer multiple channels of programming. The decision was made, per an advisor to the Brazilian communications ministry, to prevent the leasing of channels to broadcast infomercials and church services. The effect of the decision was to bar new entrants without their own stations from increasing commercial competition.[8] During the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, educational and commercial broadcasters were allowed to introduce subchannels, primarily to carry educational programming, which was extended first to April 2022 and then December 2023.[9][10]

Canada

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requires stations to file licence amendments in order to be considered for permission to carry digital subchannels. On August 17, 2012, the CRTC gave approval to Leamington, Ontario, community station CFTV-TV to broadcast four local subchannels on its digital signal, making it the first station in Canada to launch original content on its multiplex channels.[11]

Mexico

In 2015, the Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT) formally authorized broadcasters to apply for permission to add subchannels.[12]

In 2016, the IFT began assigning virtual channels to stations based on their programming, grouping transmitters of the same national network.[13]

Spain

In 2010, multiplex licensees in Spain were permitted to add two new channels to their services. The Supreme Court of Spain ruled in December 2012 to void this action, stating that the move was illegal as it did not award the channels by way of a public bidding process.[14] As a result, a total of nine channels closed down on May 6, 2014.[15]

United States

Commercial and non-commercial broadcasters began experimenting with additional subchannels over the course of the 2000s. After the digital television transition in 2009, a new crop of national services, known as digital multicast television networks or diginets, began to emerge, taking advantage of the additional capacity available on many converted stations. Diginets affiliate with individual stations in each market and are generally genre-specific in their programming. Diginets have continued to grow as more advanced encoders enable stations to add additional, income-generating ancillary services. Subchannels have also been used in smaller "short markets" with few full-power stations to provide in-market affiliates of additional major networks; by 2011, Fox had 35 such subchannel affiliates.[16]

Multiplexing is also used in ATSC 3.0 (NextGen TV) rollout plans. To allow multiple stations to begin 3.0 broadcasting without loss of ATSC 3.0 service, one station will typically become a "lighthouse", airing the main channels of several participating stations, while the lighthouse station's channels are broadcast in ATSC 1.0 format on the multiplexes of the other participating stations.[17]