The way in which the radio in Latin America in the middle of the last century corresponded, in many of the countries of the region, to a model designed and adjusted to the needs of social progress of that moment. It is worth noting the role that radio played in the integration of farming communities, literacy campaigns governments and health assistance programmes for needy sectors of our societies.
While adopting television from the 50s and 60s did not correspond to the all to a model directed as was the radio, in almost all countries in our region had channels reserved for cultural programming, or for non-formal education, or in the worst case - for propaganda of the governments of the day.
In both cases, the model corresponded to an adaptation of the environment to the needs perceived from the country and our societies were able to create models own use of the media.
Today, when television digital and high definition comes upon us, there are very few those who have wondered about the model we will have on television digital. Is it worth asking about a new model or do we leave that this is an evolution of the existing television model? What does it mean to think about a new television model?
Germán Yances lists in his column "The digital viewer" a series of advantages of television digital (and the television of the future in general) from the point of view user view: better audio and video quality, possibilities of interactivity and a greater capacity to select contents. The future of television will be Yances says personal quoting Shani Orgad.
Overall, everything we know about digital television is because of the way it is being adopted in first world countries and some pioneers in other parts of the globe including Mexico-. We know why the investigations of the supplier companies tell us - that the public wants to see news advances on the cell phone and see the repetition of goals from various angles and in high definition. But we do not know if the new possibilities of television Digital can be adopted in a different way, and perhaps more creative, for our audiences.
High-definition television, one of the forms that digital television can acquire, in Principle shall be exclusive and shall be addressed to the hearings of greater purchasing power. This is the logic of the market and should not surprise us if the model is guided by commercial parameters. But this logic should not be the only one. Digital television must offer creative applications to reach and be useful to the less favored strata of our society.
