Media Convergence

What Is Media Technology Convergence?
Convergence in the context of media refers to the technology driven unification of different media channels. For many years different media were clearly separated: broadcast TV, broadcast radio, newspapers, books, video and film, recorded music etc. The internet and other digital methods of distribution have changed this dramatically over the last 10 years. A digital connection or physical medium can carry any type of content from a picture to a song to a video and can be distributed on a mobile phone network or over the internet. This not only means that different types of media are converging, but also that media and telecommunications are converging.

Henry Jenkins, an American media scholar and professor describes convergence as: 

"...the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behaviour of media audiences."

Multi-Play

'Multi-play' is a marketing term describing the provision of different telecommunication services, such as Broadband Internet access, television, telephone, and mobile phone devices, by organisations that traditionally only offered one or two of these services. Multi-play is a catch-all phrase; usually, the terms triple play (voice, video and data) or quadruple play (voice, video, data and wireless) are used to describe a more specific meaning. A dual play service is a marketing term for the provisioning of the two services: it can be high-speed Internet and telephone service over a single broadband connection in the case of phone companies, or high-speed Internet and TV service over a single broadband connection in the case of cable TV companies. A quadruple play service combines the triple play service of broadband Internet access, television, and telephone with wireless service provisions. This service set is also sometimes humorously referred to as "The Fantastic Four" or "Grand Slam".