Initiatives and Ownership

Abstract

Throughout the 1980s, the development of high-definition television (HDTV) was discussed as the possible savior of the communications manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy, the bargaining chip for global information distribution, and the one technological development that held the key to both the telecommunications and defense industries for the 21st century. With such promise, it is surprising that HDTV did not become a reality sooner. Instead, it has become a case for shifts in both U.S. industrial policy and economic theory. Winston (1989) remarked that “HDTV has become the newest symbol of America's supposed industrial decline, with the networks, the electronics manufacturers and Hollywood all accused of participating in the failure” (p. 124). A flurry of research activity late in 1990, however, prompted Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair, Alfred C. Sikes, to comment, “The conventional wisdom is that we are a poor third [internationally] in HDTV.... It's my view that U.S. companies are on the leading edge” (Andrews, 1990, p. A1).²