I’m a few weeks behind with this one, but as promised, here are the reasons why I decided to close the All About Digital TV website. There are a number of factors, both personal and industry wide, that influenced the decision.
Firstly, there was a lack of good quality sources of information, particularly when it came to news stories. The Media Mole website has a small broadcasting section, but there aren’t many stories added to it. The Cordbusters website is quite good, but it’s main focus is encouraging the use of contract free services, and is heavily focussed on streaming services rather than traditional broadcasts. Then there’s the RXTV Info website, which varies in quality depending on which person seems to be running it at anyone time. Ultimately, the latter (once you’d navigated past lengthy ‘explainers’, occasional inaccuracy, and various industry professional quotes, seemed to be the best resource. That then led to a further problem, in that it was very much defeating the point of effectively regurgitating the same stories from effectively a rival website.
Then there’s the direction of the industry itself. Before, almost all good TV content was available in centralised locations, with two main subscription and two main free-to-air platforms. Now, good content is fragmented over tens, if not hundreds, or streaming services. Despite many having quite high prices, adverts seem difficult to avoid on streaming platforms, despite the removal of expensive carriage costs compared to traditional broadcasts. There seems to be very little innovation in the traditional broadcast sector either, in turn leading to a lack of things to write about. Ultimately, in much the same way that I lost my passion for radio, the same is happening with digital TV.
The last factor is purely personal. I just don’t have as much time these days to spend on website developing. Website development has always been a hobby, and naturally has to follow everyday life’s priorities. Recently, a change of job (and the job search that proceeded it), have consumed a lot of time, as has a house refurbishment (reliant on DIY due to budget constraints and a desire to learn new skills). All these combined mean time is limited and has to be used wisely.
When all of the factors combine, despite my determination to keep All About Digital TV running, the project just proved to be no longer viable. Other websites in my portfolio (including Scott’s Transport Site), are far more advanced both in terms of site creation and content, and it makes far more sense to focus on fewer but better quality websites than spreading limited resources too thinly. Alas, despite the closure of All About Digital TV, I’m still glad I started the website back in 2019, and its almost 5 year run isn’t exactly bad either.
Attention has now turned to the remaining websites in my portfolio; Scott’s Transport Site, and Radio In Malta. The latter has seen a moderate amount of updates lately, with work continuing to update content and make the website a little more user friendly. The ‘main site’ here as I call it now, is also getting some updates (you may have noticed the return of the lime green), and I’ll keep you posted on developments in the Website Updates section.