Senate Committee Shoots Down McCain Deadline

The Senate Commerce Committee voted 17-5 against a proposal from Sen. John McCain to move the cutoff date for analog broadcasting from 2009 to 2007. The April 7, 2009 deadline passed 19-3.

McCain Wants Quicker DTV Transition

U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) told the New America Foundation today that he believes the transition to all-digital TV broadcasting should be done sooner than 2009, the deadline set forth in legislation introduced by Commerce Committee chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). Citing a need for emergency responders to have access to some of the analog spectrum currently used by TV broadcasters, McCain said that he will work to move the deadline up to either late 2006 or early 2007.

Reuters has the full story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051018/tc_nm/congress_digitaltv_dc

CNET Reviews HP Plasma

CNET has posted a review of HP's 42-inch plasma (model PL4200N) and they seem to be pleasantly surprised by the results, particularly black-level performance.

http://reviews.cnet.com/HP_PL4200N/4505-6482_7-31484731.html?tag=nl.e722

Dell Intros Its Largest LCD

Dell said today that it has added a 37-inch display to its TV lineup that is the largest LCD flat panel it has offered to date. The company also announced that it is taking orders for its 50-inch plasma announced last month.

The 37-inch LCD is priced at $2,299 while the 50-inch plasma is going for $3,799.

More details here:
http://www.marketwatch.com/tools/quotes/newsarticle.asp?guid=%7b0144BB9C-9562-45DD-97C4-CF67AA5B1E17%7d&siteid=mktw&dist=nbk&symb=

Senate Proposes 2009 Analog Cutoff

U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the chamber's Commerce Committee, has introduced a bill that sets an April 7, 2009 hard date for the transition from analog broadcasting to digital. As part of the legislation, the FCC would be forced to begin auctioning the analog spectrum it gets back from the nation's broadcasters in January 2008, which according to some estimates would generate about $10 billion -- half of which would actually go into the federal government's coffers. Part of the remainder would help subsidize the purchase of digital-to-analog converter boxes for people who can't afford them, although those details have yet to be worked out.

The bill is scheduled to be voted upon by the Commerce Committee on Wednesday.

More from Multichannel News:
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6272985.html?display=Breaking+News&referral=SUPP

Universal HD to Show USC-Notre Dame Encore

Universal HD will air an encore presentation of Saturday's game between top-ranked USC and #9 Notre Dame tonight at 8pm EDT and again at midnight. The game, which I saw most of live, was probably the most exciting of this season and one of the best in the long rivalry between the two hallowed college football programs. The original broadcast on NBC earned the best overnight rating for a Notre Dame game in more than a decade. The 7.9 overnight rating and 17 share was the highest since Notre Dame-Michigan earned a 8.4/21 overnight on Sept. 10, 1994.

Verizon Hooks Up With HDNet

Verizon announced today that it has reached a carriage agreement to offer HDNet over its new FiOS fiber-to-the-home video service that debuted in Keller, Texas about three weeks ago. The deal was signed prior to the FiOS launch on Sept. 22 but is just now being formally announced. Verizon FiOS offers 22 high-def channels and competes with incumbent cable provider Charter Communications in Keller, a Ft. Worth suburb.

Sony vs. Samsung

Knowledge@ Wharton has an interesting piece on Samsung's desire to become the next Sony, and how Sony's movie and music distribution businesses have gotten in the way of the technological innovations upon which it built its stellar reputation.

Among many salient points, the article offers market share data for LCD and plasma displays, data which shows that Samsung is the only manufacturer in the top 3 of both the LCD and plasma categories. Sony is number 4 in LCD and does not appear in the top 5 for plasma.

Here's the link:
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&id=1293

80-Inch Samsung Plasma Goes on Sale in Korea

Would you spend $125,000 on a plasma? Samsung thinks someone will, as it recently began selling its 80-inch PDP for 130 million Korean won, or just under $125K. That model, which is the largest available for sale in the world, will be released in the U.S. in December, just in time for the holiday shopping season...yeah, right.

More from the Korea Times:
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/tech/200510/kt2005101119392211810.htm

The natural follow-up question is how many 50-inch plasmas you could buy for the price of one 80-incher. Answer? 33.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7135913&type=product&id=1110265593804

Thanks to www.i4u.com for the Korea Times link.

Paramount, LodgeNet Ink HD VOD Deal

Paramount Pictures and LodgeNet announced this week that they have signed an agreement to distribute Paramount titles in high-definition to hotel rooms on demand. The first two movies to be released as part of the distribution deal are the summer blockbusters "War of the Worlds" and "The Longest Yard." The initial hotel to offer the new technology is the Hard Rock Hotel in Chicago.

CNET Blog 100

A reader alerted me to this blog's inclusion in the CNET Blog 100 rating of the top tech blogs out there. This is a huge honor that came as a total shock to me but for which I am quite grateful. If you want to check it out, here's the link:

http://news.com.com/2311-10784_3-120031.html

Influential Senator Sees 2009 DTV Transition

Sen. Ted Stevens, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, said at an industry conference Wednesday that he would like to see 2009 as the hard date for the transition to digital television. He went on to say that his committee would consider a bill to do just that on Oct. 19 and that it would include a provision to subsidize analog-to-digital tuners for those who can't afford to upgrade to digital TVs.

More from Reuters:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051006/tc_nm/digital_dc

CBS Looking to 2nd Digital Channel

CBS is planning a second digital network that would show general entertainment and plans to launch the channel sometime next year. CBS has the rights to distribute the new net, dubbed CBS.2, to 25 million households.

Mediaweek has more:
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001261209

HDNet Announced Oct. Programming

HDNet released its October programming lineup:

Mondays are Family Night - "Summerland," "Smallville" and "Higher Definition"
Tuesdays - "HDNet World Report," "Debate" and "Face 2 Face with Roy Firestone"
Wednesdays - "Blind Justice," "Boomtown" and "The Agency"
Thursdays - National Hockey League
Fridays are Guys Night In - "Get Out!" and "Art Mann Presents..."
Saturdays - NHL and "MLS on HDNet"
Sundays are Music Night - "Sound Off with Matt Pinfield" and "Gilley's -- Behind the Bull"

Verizon TV Service to Carry Scripps HD Nets

Verizon said this week that its FiOS television service will carry HGTV-HD and Food Network-HD when Scripps Networks launches them in early 2006. In Keller, Texas -- the market where Verizon intro'd FiOS last week -- 22 HD channels are available.

Paramount to Support Both Blu-ray and HD DVD

In what came as something of a shock to the industry, Paramount said Monday that it will back Blu-ray after already having announced support for HD DVD. Reuters has that story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051003/tc_nm/dvd_paramount_dc

Toshiba promptly released the following statement:

"Our understanding is that Paramount Home Entertainment also continues to support HD DVD, a position established in comments from Paramount officials in press reports. We see Paramount's continued commitment to releasing HD DVD titles as proof that the studio still recognizes HD DVD's advantages: accelerated time to market, greater proven capacity, lower expected price, and enhanced consumer features. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with the studio in this important product area.

We understand that studios want to see precisely what will happen in the CE and IT industries, and that they will want to support all potential markets for their products.

However, once HD DVD comes to market at the end of 2005 in Japan, and early next year in the United States as planned, it will not take long to know which format really delivers the benefits of high definition to the consumer.

In terms of development, HD DVD is far in advance of Blu-ray. Volume production of discs will see decisive cost and productivity advantages in favor of HD DVD. On the strength of these facts, we are convinced that Hollywood studios and other content holders will eventually opt for commercialization in the HD DVD format.

The HD DVD format is the only next-generation DVD format defined by the DVD Forum, the international organization that determines DVD specifications. The Forum has approximately 240 member companies around the world, including major Hollywood studios and leaders in the CE and IT industries. The HD DVD format was arrived at only after extensive, open discussions and technical evaluations among the membership. Moreover, development of HD DVD is in the final phase, and we are proceeding with necessary preparations for commercialization.

HD DVD features compatibility with current DVD, and to this adds advanced characteristics, including efficient manufacturing of discs and hardware, cost efficiency, superior connectivity with PCs through iHD software. As HDTV and large-sized flat panel TVs continue their market penetration, HD DVD alone offers the ability to meet rapidly increasing consumer demand for high definition DVD content in a timely manner. Last but not least, HD DVD will adopt AACS, created by major IT and CE companies, and so realize Hollywood's most pressing concern: robust content protection -- a great benefit to content holders."

Is anyone else getting a little tired of this "war" between HD DVD and Blu-ray?