Post-Television in Iran: Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) Response to Media Convergence

Post-television, as a result of media convergence, does not mean the death of television but it can be understood as the restructure of television production, distribution and consumption modes. Media convergence as a structural change threatens broadcasting institutions and Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), as a state-owned broadcaster with monopolistic position, faces more challenges. Through a face-to-face, in-depth interviews, this study shows, IRIB recognizes the potential and challenges of new environment and puts suitable activities on its agenda include launching Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), establishing new channels, upgrading some channels to HD, using Satellite for signal distribution at national level and initiating some regional and global satellite television channel in English, Arabic, and Spanish. There is a variety of critiques to these activities: a Technophilia approach affects IRIB plans; in absence of a market system, IRIB have to rely on insufficient command system and finally, national security is main drive of IRIB development.