The public interest and Mongolian digital television transition

Abstract

Since 2010 Mongolian television has been in transition from analogue to digital. This article introduces the process of digital transition of television, and then discusses challenges television stations face in terms of the audiovisual market and policies. The Mongolian media market has structural constraints typical to those in the small media states. In addition, new chall enges like the financial dependency on the mining sector tax, an unsustainable number of politically affiliated commercial television stations, and the remnants of socialist institutional routines in media organizations also shape the television sector in Mongolia. The study also explores the state of public interest media services and opportunities due to the increasing convergence of television with the Internet. The arguments are built based on an analyses of existing legal and market studies, and in-depth interview data with professionals representing media, government and civil society institutions in Mongolia.