Starting Monday with a concert from Rascal Flatts, online music series Nissan Live Sets on Yahoo! Music will also air on MTV Networks’ MHD: Music High-Definition channel. Each month, one artist performance from the Web series will be selected to air on MHD as a 30-minute concert that includes a fan question-and-answer segment. Both MHD and Yahoo! Music will cross-promote the series on their respective outlets.
Matsushita to Double Plasma Capacity at Latest Plant - Reuters
Panasonic parent company Matsushita said it will double output capacity at its latest plasma panel plant in western Japan as early as year's end, in a move to cut costs and solidify its position as the No.1 plasma TV maker. Matsushita Electric Industrial is bringing new production equipment into the plant, its fourth plasma panel factory in Japan, with an eye to boosting its capacity to the equivalent of 360,000 42-inch panels a month from the current 180,000 panels, a Matsushita representative said.
NFL Kicks Dirt At Comcast, Other Cable Operators - MCN
The National Football League, which rakes in $3.7 billion a year in TV revenue alone, is accusing the cable industry of favoring channels it owns and discriminating against unaffiliated channels such as the NFL Network through less favorable economic terms and channel positioning.
“[Cable operators] commonly disadvantage independent services by forcing them to accept inferior compensation or channel placement – or both,” the NFL Network told the Federal Communications Commission in a Sept. 11 filing related to cable system carriage of independently owned program networks.
DirecTV Celebrates HDTV Launch with Emmy Party - MCN
DirecTV is kicking off its high-definition expansion this month by hosting its first annual Emmy party, which promises to be a star-studded event at the West Hollywood Municipal Park. The nation’s largest satellite provider will hold the soiree, the DirecTV 100 HD Emmy Party, immediately following the 59th Emmy Awards Sunday.
Comcast Touts HD Offerings via New Web Site - TV Week
Comcast Monday launched HiDefHigh.com, a new Web site aimed at educating consumers about the company’s high-definition offerings. The new site, which has been in development for a couple of months, uses a Flash graphic of a talking parrot, in addition to visuals of other animals, to narrate and guide visitors through the site options and features, including TV schedule listings, pricing and installation information.
FCC Rules on Dual-Carriage - CED
The Federal Communications Commission yesterday issued rules that direct cable operators to provide a viewable signal for every must-carry channel after the digital transition for their own analog customers; and extended for another five years the ban of exclusive contracts between vertically integrated programmers and cable operators. The must-carry decision gives operators a choice "to either: (1) carry the digital signal in analog format, or (2) carry the signal only in digital format, provided that all subscribers have the necessary equipment to view the broadcast content." As a practical matter, cable operators can either transmit at least two versions (analog and digital) of every must-carry channel, incurring expense and consuming precious bandwidth, or buy a converter or new set-top for each and every one of their analog customers, also incurring expense.
Warner Remains Loyal To Dual HD Formats - TWICE
Despite reports that Warner Home Video has been offered lucrative payments to follow Paramount’s path and become an exclusive HD DVD high-definition disc provider, the company’s president Ron Sanders told TWICE at CEDIA Expo that the company has enjoyed strong sales in both formats and will likely continue to support both until that changes. Sanders also revealed that Warner will be releasing all four “Harry Potter” movies on high-definition discs in time for the holidays, and confirmed reports that Warner’s plans for its TotalHD flipper disc remain on hold.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment