Broadcasting is in a period of exciting, but challenging changes.

The most significant of these is the digitalisation of television broadcasts. Unlike America and Japan, where the switch to digital will be virtually instantaneous, Kenya adopted the United Kingdom model and there will be a gradual crossover by media industy players, counting down to the deadline of 2015.

All indications are that the sector may be fully digitalised by 2012, or earlier. But how prepared is the industry for the opportunities to be unveiled by the scrapping of analogue signals?

Unfortunately, the Communications Commission of Kenya, the market regulator, is yet to publish a detailed survey of viewers to gauge their state of preparedness for the changes. It is not even clear if it has carried out such a study in the first place.

What will a digital television landscape look like? What opportunities will it bring to the advertising and media industries?

Digital broadcasts will completely change the face of television, as we know it today. Those lucky Kenyans who subscribe to pay television already know this: Pictures and sound are sharper and clearer, and they enjoy a better variety of programmes.

But these are a minority.

It is estimated that out of the three million households in the country that have television sets, fewer than 30,000 — a mere ten per cent — subscribe to pay television. This compares poorly with 93 per cent for America, and 15 to 36 per cent for Europe.

But the first major challenge for media houses will be in the area of delivery. Most television sets in Kenya are analogue, and the digital varieties are still too pricey. This means a majority will have to buy decoders, also known as set-top boxes, to transform the analogue signals to digital.

The reach of digital television will be determined by the take-up, which will, in turn, depend on how affordable decoders are.

But it is in the area of advertising that the possibilities are more tantalising. Because media houses will be able to transmit multiple channels, advertisers will have the chance to customise messages with particular audiences in mind. In fact, local content will now be the driver of advertising sales for media.

This will create its own unique challenges for media houses that must invest in local programmes, as content will determine the winners and losers in the race for the advertisers’ buck.

The latter increasingly want to sponsor television programmes with strong mass appeal. Only locally produced dramas, soaps and documentaries can fill that void. This in turn should boost the local film industry and help entrench Kenya as one of Africa’s choice filming destinations, next to South Africa.

And as the window opens, the convergence of television with handheld communication devices will reach full circle, thanks to the extra bandwidth envisaged from national fibre-optic links like Seacom and Teams (The East African Marine System).

Both are expected to go live this month. While there may not be sudden drop in the cost of data services, it will eventually happen.

However, we believe the biggest challenge for television stations in this period of transition will not come from among themselves, but from the mobile phone industry.

The arrival of the fibre optic network not only means more bandwidth for both data and video, but also that mobile phone services companies will have extra capacity to launch value added services, and compete for a piece of the advertising cake.

A mobile phone is a very personal gadget, and the dream of every advertiser is to be able to get to their target in a personal way. Add to that the reach of mobile phone networks, and television stations have every reason to be worried.

However, even this is a window of opportunity as television broadcasters can pair up with mobile phone service providers to offer local content, and share revenue, something that is already happening, albeit on a smaller scale.