One-Quarter of Adults to Buy HDTV in the Next Year: Poll

A new survey from Harris Interactive says that 27% adults are likely to buy an HDTV within the next year, the highest percentage of purchase interest among the seven electronic devices tested. Not surprisingly, when informed of the prices of HDTVs, the interest in purchasing decreases. Likelihood to purchase an HDTV that costs between $1,500 and $5,000 is just 19%.

Other interesting factoids: members of the so-called Echo Boomer generation (ages 18 and 27) are both the most interested in HD and also the least price sensitive, as there is only a dropoff of three percent in purchase likelihood when respondents were told of HDTV pricing (32% vs. 29%). Baby Boomers are much more price sensitive, with an eleven-point dropoff (28% vs. 17%) that surpasses even the eight-point dropoff of the "Matures" (ages 59+). Looking at the data a different way, digital cable customers are nearly price insensitive when compared to satellite customers (a one-point dropoff for cable compared to eight points for satellite). This is obviously good news for cable companies and something of a concern for satcasters, and may be why Dish Network has gone out of its way to offer relatively low-cost HDTVs that it bundles with its HD service.

Incidentally, Gen Xers are the most likely to buy high-def DVD players when they are introduced, both with (23%) and without (29%) price consideration.

Discovery HD Theater Prepares for Masters Tourney with Golf Marathon

Discovery HD Theater will run a six-hour marathon of its "Golf Escapes" program prior to the final round of the Masters Tournament on Sunday, April 10th at 9am Eastern. Each half-hour episode of the first season will air in its entirety during the period, with highlights including the Big Island of Hawaii, Lake Las Vegas in Nevada, Jack Nicklaus-designed courses in Tennessee and a salute to Pete Dye.

Chuck Dolan Prepared to Spend $400M on VOOM

Cablevision chairman Charles Dolan said in an FCC filing yesterday that he is in the process of lining up $400 million in financing to fund VOOM's continued operations, various news outlets are reporting. The elder Dolan also is attempting to block the proposed sale of VOOM's Rainbow-1 satellite from Cablevision to EchoStar on the grounds that it would hurt competition and leave VOOM's 46,000 customers without service.

Chuck Dolan's opposition to EchoStar's purchase of the Rainbow-1 satellite is hardly unexpected given what will likely happen to VOOM's customers if the sale goes through. Without the satellite, an independent VOOM would be hard-pressed to continue offering service to current or future customers given that EchoStar would likely balk at leasing any capacity back to VOOM. EchoStar is facing tremendous pressure from DIRECTV, which is utilizing two new satellites for local HD channels in the top 12 U.S. markets by the end of this year. EchoStar has not announced any plans for HD locals, which will soon put it at a tremendous competitive disadvantage to its larger rival. EchoStar needs this bird, and won't give it up without a fight.

HDNet Unveils May Lineup

HDNet released its programming schedule for May...highlights include Major League Soccer and NASCAR racing, as well as the premieres of new series "Designing America Season 3" that showcases celebrity homes, "The Benefactor Finale," Mark Cuban's reality series that originally aired on ABC last fall, and "Rick Steves' Europe," a travel show that this month focuses on Ireland and Germany.

FCC Commish Wants to Revisit Multicasting

Democratic Federal Communications Commissioner Michael Copps said this week that his agency should take a second look at rules favoring cable companies is a dispute with broadcasters over the carriage of multiple feeds of digital TV transmissions. In the 4-1 vote last month, Copps voted against must-carry multicasting, but he now says that he would favor it if it were coupled with public-interest rules that would impose requirements of educations programming and free airtime for political candidates. Multichannel News reports that Copps made the comments at a luncheon meeting of the Federal Communications Bar Association.

Universal HD to Launch "Monk" in HD

Universal HD announced that it will premiere "Monk" in high-definition on April 3rd. The debut show will be part of a nine-hour "Monk" marathon running in April. Universal HD is also debuting "Far and Away" starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman on April 9th, and will hold a Vegas Night on April 23rd with "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" and Martin Scorsese's "Casino." Finally, "Twelve Monkeys," starring Bruce Willis, will air on April 24th.

WealthTV Picks Up VOOM Carriage

WealthTV announced that it has struck a carriage agreement with VOOM for its HD offering, boosting to 40 the number of high-def channels now available on the fledgling (and troubled) satellite provider. WealthTV is a lifestyle channel that is dedicated to personal enrichment -- not just riches. Programming includes International News, The Ray Lucia Show, Giving Back, Wealth on Health, Karma Trekkers, Let's Shop, World of Wealth, Etiquette 101, The Empire's New Clothes and Butler Boot Camp.

Sharp, Mitsubishi License DTV Technology from Zenith

Zenith Electronics, a unit of LG Electronics, has licensed its digital TV reception technology to Mitsubishi Digital Electronics America and Sharp Corp., although specific terms were not released. According to the company, Zenith's 8-VSB (eight-level Vestigial Side Band) technology is part of the ATSC's DTV Standard adopted by the FCC regarding the operation of over-the-air digital TV receivers. FCC requirements for DTV tuners include the 8-VSB demodulators; hence, the licensing deal with Sharp and Mitsubishi.

A New Entrant in the HD-DVR Biz

Pace Micro said Monday that it will unveil a high-def digital video recorder (HD-DVR) at the cable industry's big annual confab in San Francisco next week. The new dual-tuner digital set-top box is dubbed "Tahoe" and comes equipped with a 160 GB hard-drive as well as a DOCSIS 2.0 cable modem. Comcast and Time Warner Cable customers will be the first to see it, although there is no actual release date yet for deployment of the new box.

Dell, HP Turning Up Heat on Asian TV Manufacturers

BusinessWeek's Bruce Einhorn has a great in-depth piece this week regarding the challenge that Asian TV manufacturers like Sony, Sharp and Samsung face from North American companies like Dell and HP. Essentially the crux of the story is that these two U.S. PC makers have the buying and distribution clout to drive prices down quickly and establish market share, and are in fact largely responsible for the recent decline in LCD and plasma prices that I and others have reported. It's a good read.

Flat-Panel Prices Keep Falling

PC World examines the issue of falling flat-panel display prices, finding that LCD prices dropped 27% in 2004 from $1500 for a 27-inch HD-ready LCD TV to under $1,100 today. Similarly, plasma prices have declined by 23% over the last year. The average price of a 42-inch plasma is now just over $2,200 as of January. The data comes from research firms DisplaySearch and NPD Group, and the article cites several examples of models that come in well below those averages.

For what it's worth, I would advise against buying the cheapest plasma or LCD you can find. Sure, you'll save a few bucks, but after your house and car, this is likely the biggest purchase you'll make this year. With HDTVs, like anything else, in many respects you get what you pay for. Now I'm not suggesting that everyone rush out and plunk down $10,000 or more on a top of the line Runco plasma (although if you do, you won't be disappointed). There are some less well-known companies that make quality products, and you can't assume that just because a product has a certain label on it that it's automatically better than one from a company you've never heard of. However, with any purchase this large, quality has to be at least as important as price. Make sure that you've read up on the HDTV you're about to buy and that you're happy with its picture quality. Then factor in the price to ensure that you're not overspending just because of a brand name and that you're not going too cheap in a way that sacrifices quality.

World's Largest HDTV Debuts in Atlanta

Mitsubishi put out a release yesterday crowing over its 5,600 square foot HDTV that will debut at Atlanta's Turner Field next month. The 71-feet high by 79-feet wide Diamond Vision monster weighs in at 50 tons and has more than five million LED lights. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, it's the largest outdoor high-definition display in the world (which would seemingly make it the largest HD display period, or so one would think). The 400,000-watt screen will be cooled by 10 fans and will show replays, highlights and video animations to Atlanta Braves baseball fans during home games.

"Baseball Tonight" Makes Season Debut in HD

For all you baseball fans undeterred by the recent steriod controversy, a quick check of ESPN HD's program guide shows that "Baseball Tonight" will debut next Tuesday in high-def at 12:17am EST. It will also air Wednesday and Friday at the same time.

WealthTV Picks Up Carriage in New England

WealthTV announced yesterday that it has signed a carriage agreement with MetroCast, a mid-size cable operator in New Hampshire in Maine, for its HD and SD broadcasts. WealthTV also has carriage deals with WideOpenWest and Charter Communications (only in certain markets). Programming includes International News, The Ray Lucia Show, Giving Back, Wealth on Health, Karma Trekkers, Let's Shop, World of Wealth, Etiquette 101, The Empire's New Clothes and Butler Boot Camp.

CEA: Consumer Acceptance of HDTV on the Rise

The Consumer Electronics Association reported this week that nearly half of all consumers plan to make their next TV purchase and HDTV. CEA projects that total digital TV sales will outpace analog TV sales for the first time this year (although dollar sales of DTVs surpassed analog TVs in '03).

According to the survey results, awareness of DTV terminology has sky-rocketed in the past 18 months. Nine out of 10 adults are now aware of at least one term used to refer to high-definition television, such as "digital television" or "HDTV." Seventy-six percent of U.S. adults say they are familiar with details about the new TV sets. In addition, the percentage of adults who are not familiar has fallen by half, from 42 percent in 2003 to 22 percent today. Finally, 84 percent of consumers have seen an HDTV somewhere in the last 12 months, whether it was in a retail store or in their own home.

CEA also surveyed consumers' reaction to the eventual analog cut-off. When consumers who receive television signals, in part or in whole, via antenna on their primary TV were asked what they would do if they could no longer receive these signals with the antenna they currently use, 52 percent (up from 46 percent in 2003) said they might buy a digital to analog set-top box converter and 66 percent (up from 57 percent in 2003) said they might subscribe to a cable or satellite service. Among those homes that receive television signals only via antenna (12 percent of homes, according to this survey), the figures are 48 percent and 56 percent, respectively. Only 21 percent of antenna-only households are very likely to "do nothing."

Kreisen Unveils New Line of LCDs

Kreisen said early this week that it has launched its full line of HD-ready LCD TVs, expanding on its 37- and 40-inch models that were announced last month. Kreisen now offers 26-, 27-, 30-, 32-, 37- and 40-inch LCD flat-panels through retailers such as Amazon and Target. The company utilizes LCD panels from Samsung and LG.Philips, which it says enables it to offer top-quality products at prices one-third lower than its competitors.

Repackaging Cable HDTV

Repackaging Cable HDTV
By Mark Kersey, President
BuyingHDTV.com
Originally published in March edition of The CTAM Magazine (Cable & Telecom Assoc. for Marketing)

If there is one thing that cable operators, programmers, broadcasters and the consumer electronics industry can all agree on, it’s that the HDTV revolution – which is still very much in its infancy – is the most significant advancement of the television industry in at least a generation. Not since the transition from black-and-white to color has the TV itself been so squarely in the middle of such a dramatic transformation. The move from analog to digital technology impacts literally every facet of the video services business, but it has so far produced many more questions than answers on issues such as must-carry, digital rights management and the future of the now ubiquitous set-top box.

All of which are far too complex to address in this space. What I would like to focus on is how the cable industry – specifically operators and programmers – can get ahead of the HD revolution by offering content in a way that transcends past traditions.

Let’s start with what we already know. Of the roughly 16 million digital televisions the Consumer Electronics Association says have been sold since 1998 (including 7.2 million last year), we know that many of them are not receiving HD service from a cable or satellite provider. It’s difficult to say exactly how many choose to receive their digital signals over-the-air – or just use their new big-screen to watch DVDs – but most estimates conclude that fewer than half of all HDTV owners subscribe to HD service. That’s a substantial missed opportunity for HD service providers and programmers, and unlike a year or two ago, the gap cannot be blamed on HD service availability, as the NCTA reports that high-def programming is available to 90 million cable homes passed in 177 of the nation’s 210 TV markets.

One of the factors often cited in consumers’ slower-than-anticipated transition to digital television is the lack of HD content available for viewing. However, BuyingHDTV.com’s research shows that there are 25 national HD networks available through cable, along with a host of smaller regional channels such as sports networks and independent broadcasters. While the quality of the content varies widely, there is plenty of good programming available on networks such as Discovery HD Theater, ESPN HD, HDNet, INHD and others.

Our research shows that ESPN HD and HBO HD are the most-carried cable channels in high-definition, with 100% of the cable companies in the top 25 U.S. markets offering those two channels in HD. NBC is carried in high-definition on 98% of the cable systems in the top 25 markets, while FOX is on 96% and Discovery HD Theater is on 94%. Several channels available in high-definition are carried on fewer than half of the cable systems in the top 25 markets, including HDNet and HDNet Movies (44% each), TNT HD (18%), Universal HD (10%), The Movie Channel HD (2%) and Encore HD (0%), indicating that the industry still has considerable work ahead of it in delivering a full slate of HD channels to its customers.

What MSOs need to do is rethink the way they package their HD offerings. Most cable companies charge an HD set-top box monthly lease fee of $5 to $10, which includes a number of HD networks, typically the local broadcast stations. However, many MSOs also offer a separate HD tier that often include channels such as Discovery HD Theater, ESPN HD, HDNet/HDNet Movies and INHD/INHD2. Premium channels such as HBO HD and Showtime HD are available if a customer also subscribes to that premium channel’s multi-screen packages.

The problem with this tiered approach is two-fold: First, it nickel-and-dimes consumers who have just spent thousands of dollars on a new HDTV. Second, it assumes that even if they’re willing to pay for the HD tier, consumers know to ask for it. As an example, my cable company – Adelphia – offers ESPN HD on a separate tier for $1.50 a month. However, to actually subscribe to ESPN HD, I have to physically call an Adelphia service rep and have the channel added to my package. I’m all for customer choice, but I believe that most customers who have an HDTV and are willing to pay $9.95/mo. for the HD set-top box would be perfectly happy if the lease fee were just raised a few bucks to include all the best HD channels available.

The other problem with the tiered approach is that many cable customers are not even aware that a separate HD tier exists. Again using anecdotal evidence, I have a friend who uses Time Warner Cable’s HD service but didn’t subscribe to the HD tier featuring ESPN HD, FOX Sports Net HD, HDNet and INHD. The issue wasn’t that he and his wife didn’t want these channels or that the extra $6 a month would break the proverbial bank; they just had never made the call to Time Warner to get them added. After some encouragement from me, they ordered the HD tier. Time Warner and the other MSOs should include all the HD channels standard by eliminating separate HD tiers (and increasing the monthly HD service fee by $3 to $5 a month if necessary). Comcast is setting an example by including all HD channels except premiums with its standard HD set-top lease, and the rest of the industry should follow its lead.

In the final analysis, we are just at the beginning of the HDTV revolution and there is much more to be learned about what consumers expect from their HD service providers. The good news is that there is plenty of time for the industry to experiment with different pricing and packaging options, and clear winners will emerge over time. Odds are that the most successful HD marketing strategies will be those that require little effort from consumers; in other words, those that minimize complexity and maximize value. As is often said, keep it simple. Your customers will thank you, most likely with their wallets.

Charter Cable Finds HD Success in Retail

CableWorld describes cable provider Charter Communications' success in demonstrating its HD service in the retail channel. According to a company exec, Charter has produced a cross-channel spot to emphasize the basics of HD:

Step 1 -- Buy an HD set
Step 2 -- Get HD service from Charter
Step 3 -- Order Charter's HD tier

In my mind, there's a small problem with these steps -- they require too much action on the part of the customer. Steps 2 and 3 should be merged to take into account customers who don't even know there is an HD tier. Check out the post above, which was a piece I authored for a cable industry marketing magazine. And please, let me know what you think.

HD Developments Abroad

For any of you interested in how the rest of the world is doing with HDTV rollouts, here are three interesting pieces for you to chew on:

The BBC Online has the story of confusion regarding HD in Great Britain, particularly with respect to flat-panel displays being sold as HD-ready that are in fact only capable of displaying EDTV. Sound familiar?

South Africa's version of the BBC, the SABC, updates us on that country's plans to broadcast the 2010 soccer World Cup in HD, despite the fact that South Africans themselves won't be able to actually watch the action. High-def isn't expected to arrive in South Africa until 2014 due primarily to delays in upgrading the nation's broadcast facilities for digital transmission.

Finally, Asia Pulse tells of China's migration to DTV and the efforts of Zhang Haitao, vice-minister of the State Administration of Radio, Film and TV (SARFT), who is "maybe China's most enthusiastic proponent of DTV." The link is courtesy of CED Magazine, which picked up the story from LexisNexis.

Discovery HD Theater to Air "Mission HD: Behind the Lines" Tonight

Tonight Discovery HD Theater premieres three shows that they're packaging as "Mission HD: Behind the Lines" in a Hi-Def Tech theme night. It will be a 3 hour event (8 - 11 pm) consisting of:

BLUE ANGELS: A YEAR IN THE LIFE (ep 1- Becoming Blue) @ 8 pm
DELTA COMPANY (ep 1 - The Push To Baghdad) @ 9 pm
DELTA COMPANY (ep 2 - A New Era in Baghdad) @ 10 pm

All three are network premieres in high-definition on Discovery HD Theater. Both BLUE ANGELS: A YEAR IN THE LIFE and DELTA COMPANY were shot in native HD, and premiered in SD on the Military Channel last week.

VOOM Not Getting Satellite Back From EchoStar

EchoStar CEO Charlie Ergen told analysts and investors last week that he will keep possession of the Rainbow-1 satellite his company acquired from Cablevision last month for $200 million in cash. There has been much speculation that Chuck Dolan would attempt to buy it back from EchoStar in his quest to keep VOOM alive, but Ergen quashed such notions when he said that "The only thing that would prevent us from acquiring the satellite would be if we don't get FCC approval."

Newsday reports that Ergen did not rule out the possibility of leasing satellite capacity back to VOOM, although he didn't embrace it either.

This development makes Chuck Dolan's job all that more difficult, because he can't very well operate a satellite TV provider without, say, a satellite. He could lease capacity from EchoStar, but the odds that EchoStar would willingly work to ensure the survival of one of its competitors seem fairly slim, even if it were making a few bucks in monthly lease payments off the deal. The Cablevision-imposed March 31st deadline for Chuck Dolan to line up financing is looming large, and Mr. Dolan's options seem to be narrowing...

Lawmakers Speak of Compromise in DTV Transition Debate

Congressional lawmakers with jurisdiction over the transition to digital television appear open to a compromise on the issue, with a hard deadline looking more likely. Senator John McCain, a member of the Senate Commerce Committee, said this week that he will probably introduce legislation in his committee that would be identical to that proposed by Congressman Joe Barton, chairman of the House Commerce Committee, that would establish Dec. 31, 2006 as the absolute deadline for the DTV transition. However, Senator John Ensign, who chairs the Senate Commerce Committee's subcommittee on Technology, told attendees at the Consumer Electronics Association's HDTV Summit that while a compromise on a hard deadline may be reached, he seriously doubted that his colleagues would accept a deadline of the end of next year. ABC News and MediaWeek have the full stories.

Panasonic Signs On for Two-Way CableCARDS

Panasonic said today that it has entered into agreements with CableLabs that allow it to implement OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP) middleware on its cable-ready digital TVs, set-top boxes, and other products to support two-way, interactive cable services. The agreements, available to any interested consumer electronics manufacturer, grant certain intellectual property rights required for building interactive devices in compliance with the CableLabs OpenCable hardware and software specifications.

OCAP allows retail devices to run OCAP applications or services delivered by cable operators, as well as applications provided by consumer electronics companies, program networks and third-party applications developers. With OCAP middleware, CE manufacturers can build digital cable-ready products capable of using interactive program guides delivered by cable operators, as well as premium services ordered on-screen, such as video-on-demand (VOD).

Optoma Debuts Sub-$10K Front Projector

Optoma has launched the $9,999 H79 front projector home theater system that utilizes TI's DLP and DarkChip3 technology. The H79 features 4500:1 contrast ratio, native 720p resolution and a 1000 lumens ratings. The H79 offers a proprietary 5x, 8-segment DVE (Dark Video Enhancement) color wheel technology with additional dark segments for near dither-free deep levels of black. Optoma provides a two-year warranty and a Zero Dead Pixel policy on the H79, which allows consumers to return the unit for free repair if any one of its 921,600 pixels stops working properly.

HDNet to Show U.S. vs. Honduras Soccer Match

HDNet will show an international friendly match of soccer between the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team and that of Honduras this Saturday at 4pm EST. The match will take place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and is considered an important preparation match for the U.S. as it continues its quest to qualify for the 2006 FIFA World Cup next week with games against Mexico on March 27 in Mexico City and against Guatemala on March 30 in Birmingham, Alabama.

Comcast, Sinclair Finally Ink Carriage Deal

The Baltimore Sun reports that Sinclair Broadcasting and Comcast have finally come to terms on a long-term carriage agreement for Sinclair’s local FOX affiliates in high-def. You may recall that the two media giants reached an accord for temporary FOX HD carriage in the days prior to the Super Bowl, but the honeymoon ended quickly and the affiliates were pulled off of Comcast systems in Baltimore, Charleston, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Richmond and Paducah, Ky. late last month.

It’s unclear what the terms of the long-term pact are, but it appears that in lieu of the cash payments Sinclair wanted for HD broadcast retransmission, Comcast may have acceded to multi-casting instead. That would enable Sinclair to provide Comcast’s customers with multiple digital feeds of a local network. For example, in addition to the regular broadcast network, there might also be a 24-hour local news or weather channel, all of which would be digital.

TV History Repeating Itself

Alex Pham of the L.A. Times ran an interesting piece yesterday on a recent phenomenon brought on by the HDTV revolution that may not be new after all: house calls by TV technicians. In the 1950s and 60s, techs would visit people’s houses to deliver the just-purchased TVs and help install and adjust antennas. Today, techs from organizations such as the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF) command four-figure fees to calibrate your HDTV in order to optimize picture quality. Needless to say, it’s a growth industry.

Hockey Team Paints Ice Blue for HDTV

The Buffalo Sabres have decided that the cure for hockey’s current problems might just be HDTV, and that large expanses of white ice on the screen need to eliminated to make the game more interesting. They can’t get rid of the ice, so they decided to paint it blue for their minor league affiliate, the Rochester Americans. USA Today has the full story. Predictably, hockey purists aren’t happy.

Tampa Cable Customers Finally Get NBC

The Tampa Tribune reports that Bright House Networks cable customers in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area will finally be able to watch the local NBC affiliate in HD. The carriage agreement comes after three years of negotiations.

CEA Names Best in DTV

The Consumer Electronics Association earlier this week handed out the awards for achievement in digital TV. Drumroll, please:

Best DTV Over the Air Network - CBS
Best DTV Cable System - Comcast
Best DTV Cable or Satellite Service - DirecTV
Best DTV Satellite Programmer - ESPN
Best DTV Sporting Event - CBS Super Bowl XXVIII
Best Original DTV Material - CBS for CSI and ESPN's HD SportsCenter (two-way tie)
Best DTV Journalism - HDTV Insider
Best Industry DTV Leadership - Mr. Peter Fannon, Panasonic Corporation of North America Best Government DTV Leadership - The Honorable John McCain, United States Senate
Best Retail DTV Leadership - Best Buy

In related news, the CEA said late last week that 3 million CableCARD digital TVs will be sold this year.

Malone Says VOOM’s Prospects Are Bleak

Cable industry mogul John Malone, recently named to Cablevision’s board by chairman Chuck Dolan, told investors and analysts on a conference call that he doubts VOOM can survive as a standalone satellite provider. Reuters reports that Malone said of financing VOOM, “I wouldn’t do it with my money,” and “We were offered on a number of occasions an opportunity to participate in a third satellite competitor and we declined because we didn't think the risks were warranted by the potential returns.” Malone went on to say that in his opinion, the only way VOOM can survive is if it is acquired by DirecTV or EchoStar and merged into their operations.

Taking a contrarian view, the New York Post ran a piece on Sunday saying that Malone is interested in investing in VOOM. Here’s an excerpt:

“Industry watchers say a chunk of that financing will come from Malone, predicting that Malone and Dolan will team up for a joint venture to acquire VOOM from the Cablevision stable. Sources say Dolan will likely borrow against his shares, and Malone, who’s worth $2 billion, will tap his deep lines of credit. Malone, a tech savvy cable pioneer who sees the same potential riches in VOOM, is ready to invest billions, industry sources say.”

Maybe the Post needs to check its sources a little better...

Dolan Puts Up Own Money to Keep VOOM Alive

The extension of VOOM’s operations through the end of this month announced on Tuesday will be funded entirely by Chuck Dolan’s own pocketbook, more specifically through a $10 million stash of cash and stock he has authorized to be spent on VOOM. In an SEC filing submitted on Thursday, Cablevision’s chairman said that the VOOM operations payments will first come from the cash, then his Class-A stock in Cablevision, and finally his Class-B stock. Any cash or stock not used will be returned to him.

You’ve got to hand it to Chuck Dolan: he puts his money where his mouth is. However, you get the feeling that this $10 million in cash and stock to fund VOOM’s operations for the next three weeks is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Dolan’s willingness to dump Cablevision in favor of his pet satellite project. If he can somehow negotiate an agreement with EchoStar that enables him to acquire VOOM’s satellite assets from that company and its remaining assets from Cablevision, it will require a substantial amount of cash.

He only really has one way to obtain said cash, and that’s by putting Cablevision on the block. As the shareholder who controls the majority of the company’s voting shares, he has nearly unlimited power to do just that, particularly after packing Cablevision’s board with friends and supporters last week. Time Warner and Comcast undoubtedly await this outcome with breathless anticipation, eager to gobble up Cablevision’s roughly 3 million New York-area customers.

So paradoxically, VOOM -- the little upstart satellite company with fewer than 50,000 subscribers -- could end the existence of the fifth-largest cable provider in the U.S. as a stand-alone entity.

RCA to Debut $300 Digital TV

Thomson/RCA Vice President David Arland told the U.S. House of Representatives Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet that his company will roll out a $300 digital TV later this year. The DTV will be standard- definition, NOT high-definition, but is designed to be an analog TV replacement at comparable price points.

Thomson also is planning to introduce a Digital-to- Analog RCA converter box carrying a suggested retail price of under $125 - half the cost of similar converters now available at retail.

JVC Recalls 26,000 HDTVs

JVC and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commissioned today issued a voluntary recall of 26,500 rear-projection HDTVs. According to the CPSC, an internal electrical connection can cause electrical arcing, charring or smoking inside the television, which pose a fire risk to consumers. JVC has received two reports of incidents, including one case of melted television parts and one case of a minor television fire. No injuries have been reported.

The recalled 52-inch and 61-inch JVC rear projection televisions were manufactured between May 2004 and November 2004, and have the following model and serial numbers:

HD-52Z575: 10980014 through 16980772
HD-52Z575: 16986471 through 16989999
HD-52Z585: 10980031 through 16981502
HD-61Z575: 10980031 through 16982712
HD-61Z585: 10980031 through 16980942

The model and serial numbers can be found on the back of the television inthe lower center portion of the unit. The JVC logo appears on the front ofthe television.

Consumers should stop using the recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed by JVC. The company will schedule a free in-home service for those consumers with recalled televisions and is contacting registered consumers directly via regular mail and e-mail to arrange a free at-home service. Consumers can also contact JVC at (800) 252-5722 between 9 a.m. and 10 p.m. ET any day or log on to the company's Web site at http://www.jvc.com/support/notification.

Apple Bites on Blu-ray

The Blu-ray Disc Association today announced that Apple has joined the group’s board of directors, giving Blu-ray a key ally in its standards war against HD DVD. Apple is well-known for its DVD creation tools and has entered the HD business by releasing iMovie® HD, Final Cut® Express HD and Final Cut Pro® HD editing software.

Other Blu-ray board members include Dell, HP, Hitachi, LG Electronics, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp, Sony, TDK, Thomson/RCA, Twentieth Century Fox and Walt Disney.

New Xbox to Emphasize HDTV

Reuters reports that the Microsoft executive in charge of the Xbox gaming console software development foresees a future in which all video games are in HDTV. As such, the new Xbox will emphasize HD content when it is released later this year.

VOOM Alive Until at Least End of the Month

Cablevision announced late Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with Chuck and Tom Dolan to continue VOOM’s operations until March 31st. The extension allows the father and son duo to seek an alternative transaction that would allow VOOM’s future existence as a stand-alone company. Further details of the agreement were not released, but it is expected that the Dolans will try to re-work or undo the previously announced deal between EchoStar and Cablevision that called for the satellite company to acquire VOOM’s primary orbital assets for $200 million in cash.

Encore HD First High-Def Network to Close Shop

Starz said Monday that it will shutter the operations of Encore HD due to a lack of bandwidth and carriage agreements with cable companies. The channel was only available on VOOM, although the decision about Encore was unrelated to VOOM’s future status. Starz said that it may restart Encore HD if some of the cable capacity issues are resolved.

Second Season of “Cathedrals of the Game” to Air on INHD

INHD has released the schedule for its second season of “Major League Parks: Cathedrals of the Game.” The first episode showcases Boston’s Fenway Park and airs on April 3rd. Here’s the full schedule:

April 3 Fenway Park (Boston Red Sox)

April 10 National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

April 17 PNC Park (Pittsburgh Pirates)

April 24 Comerica Park (Detroit Tigers)

May 1 Rogers Centre (Toronto Blue Jays)

Samsung Debuts 82-Inch LCD Flat Panel

Samsung took the wraps off of the world’s largest LCD flat-panel display, an 82-inch behemoth that the company is showing off at the giant CeBIT electronics convention this week in Germany. Don’t expect to be able to actually purchase one of these monstrous LCDs anytime soon, but Samsung says that it can produce two of them from a single glass substrate in its new seventh-generation facility in Korea.

VOOM Granted Temporary Reprieve, Cablevision Saga Becomes Even More Personal

The almost comical feud going on among various members of Cablevision’s ruling Dolan family has led to a reversal -- or at least a temporary suspension -- of the company’s decision to shut down the VOOM satellite HD service by the end of March. Yesterday, Cablevision’s board agreed to grant Chuck and Tom Dolan an additional week to line up the financing to continue VOOM’s operations. March 7th is the new deadline (Feb. 28th had been the original date), and it is expected that Chuck Dolan would have to unload part or all of his controlling stake in Cablevision to be able to come up with the cash needed to fund VOOM.

The most likely explanation for Cablevision’s board’s change of heart is that Dolan fired three directors on Wednesday and replaced them with long-time friends and fellow cable moguls that are apparently much more sympathetic to his plight. Cable pioneer John Malone of Liberty Media is among the new board members, as is Leonard Tow, one of Adelphia’s largest shareholders. The elder Dolan succeeded in packing the board with supporters because as the owner of 75% of Cablevision’s voting shares, a majority of the board essentially serves at his pleasure.

So to recap, on one side there are Chuck Dolan and sons Tom and Patrick fighting to keep VOOM alive and separate from Cablevision. On the other is son James (Jimmy), Cablevision’s CEO who would prefer to see VOOM just terminated. The escalating family feud has led some observers to question how much longer Jimmy will have a job at Cablevision given the rift between him and his father the chairman.

Jimmy’s reluctance to have his father and brother Tom purchase the remaining VOOM assets from Cablevision may have more to do with self-interest than in what is good for his company and shareholders. It’s clear that selling VOOM’s assets to Chuck Dolan would relieve Cablevision of the financial burden of absorbing the millions of dollars of losses it would incur in shuttering VOOM. The company has already lost $1.4 billion as a result of VOOM over the last year, and at first glance it’s difficult to understand why Jimmy Dolan wouldn’t want to immediately stop the bleeding.

Perhaps the answer lies again in his future employment. To come up with the cash to finance VOOM’s operation’s, Chuck would need to sell all or most of his stake in Cablevision, presumably to either Time Warner (which has long coveted Cablevision as a complement to its Manhattan cable system) or Comcast. If his company were sold to either of those two cable giants, it seems probable that Jimmy Dolan would be out of a job.

For now, the industry waits to see if Chuck Dolan can come up with the cash to finance VOOM -- and he’s only got another three days to get a deal done. There’s speculation that he has talked to EchoStar about some kind of arrangement that would link the remaining VOOM assets with the satellite that Cablevision sold EchoStar last month for $200 million in cash. However, it’s unclear at this point whether that would involve combining the remaining VOOM assets into EchoStar, VOOM leasing capacity from EchoStar or VOOM buying back the satellite from EchoStar. Or maybe none of the above.

For kicks, you can check out the two competing “official” websites in the VOOM saga. There’s www.VOOM.com, the site run by Cablevision, which currently has a message stating that “Voom has ceased taking new customer orders and will shut down by the end of March.” And then there’s www.VOOMLLC.com, the site put up by Chuck and Tom Dolan, which yesterday stated that “VOOM Still Delivers,” although today it more ominously says “This site is temporarily unavailable, please check back at a later time.”

Lawmakers Far From United on Digital Transition

The United States Senate Minority Leader, Democrat Harry Reid of Nevada, said this week that he is not in favor of a hard deadline in the transition to digital TV transmission. The current federal policy is that the DTV transition will occur at the end of 2006 if 85% of consumers in each TV market can receive the digital signals. Senator Reid told the National Association of Broadcasters that he has no desire to actually enforce that law and that he believes a hard deadline would be a burden to consumers.

This may be the one issue in Washington that doesn’t neatly divide along partisan lines. Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska, told the same NAB gathering that he doesn’t necessarily agree with his U.S. House counterpart, Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, Republican chairman of the House Commerce Committee, that a hard deadline is best for the industry or consumers. Rep. Barton told the NAB that he is fine with the Dec. 31, 2006 date, but he wants to eliminate the 85% provision that could delay the DTV transition indefinitely.
Rep. Barton and Rep. Fred Upton, the chairman of the House Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, believe that a hard deadline is necessary to ensure that the DTV transition actually takes place in the near future. The broadcast industry, led by the NAB, is concerned that millions of consumers could be left in the cold who currently rely solely on over-the-air broadcast signals rather than cable or satellite service for their TV reception. They also fear that the cable industry could simply downconvert digital signals to analog for consumers who haven’t upgraded to digital TVs yet, leaving those consumers with no real incentive to ever make the switch to DTV.

Some House Republicans have broached the idea of a subsidy for low-income consumers to receive digital-to-analog converters, but support for such a measure is uncertain and would be dependent upon the government’s ability to auction off the analog spectrum currently used by the nation’s broadcasters.

HDNet to Showcase Horse-Racing from Santa Anita

HDNet will be live from the famed Santa Anita racetrack in Arcadia, Calif. this Saturday at 7pm EST (4pm PST) to show the Santa Anita Big Cap March. Coverage will include the signature race, the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap ("Big Cap"), as well as coverage of the Santa Catalina Stakes, Baldwin Stakes and the Frank E. Kilroe Mile races from the March 5th card.

Charter Cable Inks Deal to Carry TNT HD

Charter Communications, the nation’s third-largest cable company, announced this week that it has signed an agreement to carry TNT HD. Actual launch dates of the high-def network will vary based on the decisions of Charter’s local cable systems. TNT HD is perhaps best known for its two National Basketball Association (NBA) games broadcast each week in 1080i high-def.

Amid the Drama, Cablevision to Shutter VOOM

There were dueling press releases, last-minute deadlines and an ever-worsening family feud. But in the final analysis, it appears that the end of VOOM is finally nigh. Cablevision announced late yesterday that negotiations with its own chairman Chuck Dolan had broken down without an agreement to finance VOOM HD’s continued operations, and that VOOM will be shut down. It’s unclear exactly when the shut-off date will be, but Cablevision did say that the transition would last a minimum of 30 days.

Less than an hour after Cablevision issued its statement, Chuck and Tom Dolan put out their own release (curiously titled “VOOM Announces Continued Service”) making clear VOOM HD’s desire to continue the negotiations with Cablevision’s board of directors. For now, however, it appears that VOOM’s days are numbered unless the elder Dolan can work some last minute magic.