The Regulation of Pay Television in East Asia: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This paper examines the way in which new media technologies have compelled policy-makers to adapt regulatory frameworks in order to accommodate technological change and to restructure television broadcasting in selected countries in East Asia, namely Hong Kong SAR, Japan and South Korea. It is primarily concerned with how the state and the players -old and new -in these countries have responded to emerging new media technologies (cable, satellite and Internet television). Based on a comparison of the regulatory history and the structural changes noted in the recent development of pay television in these countries, this paper argues that although the growing array of new technologies fragments and diversifies the industry, there is a significant variation in the degree to which the regulatory framework incorporates all types of pay television. It also argues that the de-regulatory frameworks in Japan and South Korea have been less effective than in Hong Kong SAR in incorporating all types of pay television.