Defining High Definition

BY SHIRLEY BRADY

If there was an overall theme to the National Show this year, it was certainly high-definition TV. With hi-def services such as ESPN, Discovery, HBO, Showtime and (and next month) Bravo already telecasting, and the number of HD sets in the marketplace growing, cable is already offering the biggest slate of HD programming available anywhere, although the absence of CBS, ABC and NBC HD affiliates on many systems remains a sore point with HD consumers, not to mention Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael Powell. Still, HD is here, and anyone who needed proof needed only to look up Starz Encore's John Sie. Starz Encore Group backed up its StarzMobile onto the floor and unloaded a package of HD goodies for the conventioneers, along with a high-resolution proposition thrown in just to keep things lively. The company officially announced its separate 1080i HDTV and 5.6 megabit-per-channel high-res feeds for Starz! in addition to a ?best of? Starz Super Pak tailor-made for packaging in HDTV tiers.

Starz founder, chairman and CEO John Sie took great delight in testing folks' ability to identify movies viewed in hi-def versus hi-res with a Pepsi Challenge-like demonstration at the Starz booth. Visitors, including at least one senior counsel for the FCC, were marked on their ability to spot the difference with a scorecard and gleefully corrected and educated when wrong. Somewhat predictably, a breakdown of how many viewers could tell the difference was not available at the time we were there. But here was Sie, who has been steadfastly opposed to HD, launching an HD channel.

?People are saying, has John Sie finally got religion?? Sie asked reporters. ?Not on your life! High-res is less filling, great taste. 95% of what we do is film-based, and while1080i looks better for live events, why waste three times the spectrum for that 5%??? Sie continued urging operators not to jump on the HDTV bandwagon without at least considering high-res as an option to manage bandwidth and improve spectrum efficiency with minimal difference to the customers, at least for everything but sports and live events.

Showtime Networks also boosted its early move into the HD pool with an announcement last week that the Viacom-owned programmer has substantially boosted its commitment to SHO HDTV, which launched in 2000.

Noting that ?high-definition programming has the potential to be as revolutionary as the introduction of color TV,? Showtime said its HD service now offers 75% of prime-time content ? seven of its original series and many of its original movies ? in high-resolution wide-screen format, 55% of which originates in HD.

?Currently 5% of U.S. homes are receiving HDTV signals, but that number is going to grow significantly,? Showtime EVP of corporate strategy and communications Mark Greenberg noted in a post-show statement. ?We want to be there when HDTV programming becomes mainstream.?

Showtime Networks was also the first premium service to launch a series fully produced in high definition in 2002. The company was the first network to launch Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound in conjunction with HDTV in 2000 and currently broadcasts that audio enhancement on all of its 32 channels.

Still, Showtime Networks chairman and CEO Matt Blank noted during Tuesday's opening session that ?HD is a bit of a bandwidth hog,? allowing that other advanced services might make sense in some cases.

Fellow panelist and Discovery Communications Inc. chairman and CEO John Hendricks ? an HD apostle ? is dealing with the increased production costs of HD by spreading them among the company's lineup of networks. Those costs are coming down, Hendricks said. He estimated that the added expense of shooting in HD is now roughly between $25,000 and $30,000 in additional costs for an hour of HD programming, from approximately $50,000 or more on top of a one-hour budget five years ago.

HDNet founder and owner Mark Cuban, another HD apostle, showed up with an HDNet production truck transmitting hi-def feeds of the general sessions.

Emerging network College Sports Television came into the show with a deal announced late last month to show CSTV's live sporting events in HD when In Demand's hi-def service launches in September. In Demand also announced a deal to feature a Hallmark Entertainment original production from Hallmark Channel owner Crown Media as part of a weekly feature on its upcoming suite of HD networks, which will launch with about 12 hours of programming daily.

There, of course, was the usual wooing and doing deals. PAX inked a long-term carriage agreement with Armstrong Cable for June 30 launches on its Ohio and Pennsylvania systems, and the Tennis Channel announced its expansion to 25 markets as a follow-up to its May 15 launch. Wisdom also noted that it had crossed the 6 million subscriber mark following recent launches with Insight Communications and Mediacom Communications, while Scripps Networks pointed to significant carriage agreements in the first half of this year, putting DIY in the 50 top DMAs and Fine Living in 30 of the top 50. TBN also announced a launch in 41 cities with WOW! Internet and Cable while EWTN announced it is expanding to Time Warner Cable New York City this month among other highlights. A healthy posse of first-timers, rebranded (Spike TV, Fuse) and emerging networks fought to make an impression in the convention's clutter. First prize has to go to MBC Network, with cofounder Marlon Jackson's little brother Michael creating a near-riot on the floor. A number of new services also worked the show hard, including CSTV, Fuel, Comcast and Radio One's new TV One, JokeVision, Wheels TV, Brief Original Broadcasts, Reality Central, Blackbelt TV, Box TV, the Anime Network, AtomTelevision, the Football Network, the Sportsman Channel, iNetwork for women 18 to 24 and S Networks for the young, diverse and hip ?new mainstream.?