DIRECTV Honcho Says Retail HD Sales "Pretty Small"

DIRECTV sells most of its HD service through its own marketing and sales efforts rather than through its retail partners, CEO Chase Carey told an investors' conference yesterday. Here's the full quote, courtesy of TWICE:

"We have successfully executed and established ourselves as the leader of HD. The actual sales that still come through the consumer electronics channel are pretty small, so you do have to measure it in a broader sense. We've done a lot of research about it and I think we execute it well. We deliver the product. I think we communicated it well. I think the marketing campaigns were and continue to be ones that really set us apart."

The End of the Set-Top Box?

The big news today is that Sony has signed a deal with the leading cable companies to build bi-directional tru2Way digital cable-ready products that could eliminate the need for a standalone set-top box. The key here is the phrase "bi-directional." You may remember that when CableCARDS were introduced a few years ago -- also with the promise of eliminating the set-top box -- the main hang-up was that they were uni-directional, meaning that 2-way features like video on demand, DVR and interactive TV didn't work. Needless to say, that limitation pretty much doomed the one-way CableCARD as a viable plug-and-play technological solution. 

This announcement from Sony is a very positive step and according to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the CE giant and the six big cable companies, other consumer electronics manufacturers have already been invited to join. 

TWICE has the full story with more details.

Time Warner Cable Dropping the HD Ball in L.A.

The L.A. Times runs a piece this morning highlighting Time Warner Cable's slow upgrade of their Los Angeles cable plant for HD. The TWC system in L.A. is one of the nation's largest and was cobbled together blending networks previously owned by Adelphia, Comcast and TWC. That process began two years ago but the upgrades have been laborious, meaning that TWC customers in L.A. only get 16 high-def channels, compared to 25-50 in other Time Warner Cable systems throughout the country. 

When you consider that there are 1.5 million HDTV households in the Los Angeles-area, this is no minor issue to a lot of people.

10MM Homes 'Completely Unready' for DTV: Nielsen

One topic of great interest last week at The Cable Show was the digital TV transition and how prepared -- or unprepared -- consumers are for it. The general consensus was that cable and satellite customers will be fine since all the conversion will take place before the signal even reaches the consumer home. That assumption is predicated upon consumers connecting ALL the televisions in their house to cable or satellite, not just their primary TV. But assuming they do, they will in fact be okay.

The bigger issue is the homes that rely completely on over-the-air antennas for their TV watching. Nielsen is out with a new study, reported in today's New York Times, showing that up to 25 million TVs will go dark on Feb. 17, 2009 and that 10 million households are "completely unready" for the DTV transition. One interesting factoid from the Nielsen study is that senior citizens are actually among the most prepared demographic groups, which is counter to what many industry observers expected.

There are also regional discrepancies as demonstrated by much higher than average unprepared levels in Milwaukee and Salt Lake City (18%).

Expect the current trickle of ads telling you how to avoid losing your TV signal next February to turn into an avalanche fairly soon. The ads will get redundant and quite possibly annoying, but the government, the nation's broadcasters and the cable and CE industries want to make sure everyone's ready for the coming digital revolution.

A Monster Irony?

Monster Cable has been the industry leader in high-quality HD cabling products for HDMI, component and other wired technologies for about as long as there's been a consumer HD industry. TWICE has the story of their founder's comments to a CES conference in Dubai about his company's efforts in the wireless A/V segment. It's an ultrawideband solution (UWB) that uses standard coaxial cable to get the signal between rooms, and it should be available for purchase this fall. 

Monster's partner in the wireless distribution biz is not yet publicly known, but San Diego-based startup PulseLink has a UWB product that utilizes a very similar networking model, which it displayed at The Cable Show last week. 

Panasonic Web-Enabled Plasma TVs Coming in June

Due to The Cable Show going on in New Orleans this week, most of this blog has been devoted to HD service and new channel launches. There have been a couple of product-related announcements, however, including one from Panasonic that is pretty interesting. The company said on Tuesday that its new line of web-enabled 1080p VIERA plasma TVs originally announced at January's CES will be available in mid-June. VIERA CAST, as the IPTV service is known, provides access to popular websites like YouTube, Google Picasa photo album and Bloomberg. Here are the sizes and MSRPs:

• 46" - $3,099.95
• 50" - $3,499.95
• 58" - $4,299.95
• 65" - $7,999.95

Comcast Touts 500 HD "Viewing Choices"

Recognizing that there was no way it could match DIRECTV's nearly 100 HD linear channels when they launched last December, cable giant Comcast cleverly conceived of what it calls "HD viewing choices" that counts its impressive video on demand library. That number now exceeds 500, the company reported at this week's Cable Show, and will increase even more as it adds new content from Showtime, Starz, Encore and MoviePlex.

Overall, Comcast has more than 10,000 video on demand selections available.

MGM HD Gets Distro on Time Warner Cable, Comcast

MGM HD earlier this week announced a carriage deal with Time Warner Cable, coming on the heels of its agreement with Comcast that was made public last week. I spoke with MGM HD senior VP Simon Graty in New Orleans and asked him about his network's strategy when it comes to deciding which movies out of its enormous archive to show on MGM HD. He told me that they view themselves as an HD basic cable movie network a la AMC or Turner Classic Movies rather than a pay-TV movie network like HBO or Showtime. That explains why most of the titles you'll find on MGM HD are less well-known or in some cases, outright obscure -- MGM HD wants to give some of these movies some airtime, and generally it's the first time they'll be available anywhere in high-def.

Some of the events MGM HD is showcasing this month and next include "Manly Movie Marathon," "Mondo Brando" and "The Sexy 1:00s." The network is also planning a James Bond marathon this summer and thus had girls in orange bikinis handing out martinis and po' boy sandwiches at their Cable Show booth.

NatGeo Planning "Earth: The Biography" Mini-series

National Geographic Channel announced this week at The Cable Show that it will premier a mini-series event called Earth: The Biography on July 13-15 beginning at 9:00 PM. The mini-series is five hours, has been two years in the making and was filmed on all seven continents.

This sounds a lot like HD Theater's Planet Earth mini-series to me but that's okay because this kind of programming looks positively spectacular in high-def. I'd recommend tuning in.

ESPN: Ratings Much Higher for HD Telecasts

ESPN's head honcho George Bodenheimer told attendees at The Cable Show that ESPN's ratings are 40% higher in HD than in standard-definition. If there ever was an argument for networks to transition to high-def, that should do it...

Scripps Releases Results of TNS HD Research Data

Scripps Networks released some interesting HD research data from TNS at The Cable Show, data in support of its decision to simulcast HGTV HD and Food HD rather than create a compilation channel where the schedule does not coincide with the SD channel. The study is based on data gathered from 300,000 households in the Charter Los Angeles cable system.

Some highlights of the study:

• Homes with HD service watch more TV than non-HD households.
• Simulcast HD networks outperform compilation HD networks in attracting viewers.
• Viewers continue to watch content in SD, even when it's available in HD.
• The tiered structure that separates SD and HD channel numbers may play a role, but further research is needed.

Fox Regional Sports Networks Going All-HD in '09

Fox Cable Networks announced at The Cable Show this week that the Fox Sports Net group of 16 regional sports channels will begin transitioning to round-the-clock HD telecasts in the first quarter of 2009. In all, more than 3,000 Major League Baseball, NBA basketball, NHL hockey and NCAA football and basketball events will be produced in HD, which FSN says will be "far and away more than any other sports provider in the U.S."

ESPNU HD Coming August 28th

ESPNU will be the next network from the ESPN stable of channels to go high-def, making the jump on August 28th for the Miami University (OH) football game against Vanderbilt University at 7:30 PM Eastern. Carriage agreements have not been announced but a source at ESPN told me there is a strong possibility they'll have an agreement with DIRECTV to launch on that date.

Planet Green HD Debuting June 4

Planet Green, which is the rebranded Discovery Home channel, will make its HD debut on June 4th. Carriage agreements have not yet been announced. As its name suggests, Planet Green is a channel focused on the uber-trendy green movement and to drive that point home, they're serving some nice banana-pineapple-orange smoothies in their booth.

Live Blogging at The Cable Show

I'm in New Orleans this week live-blogging from the cable industry's big annual confab. The weather in the Big Easy has been great -- very San Diego-like -- and there seems to be a lot of action. I'll post HD updates as I get 'em...

Cox Inks Deal With Lifetime for HD Offerings

Cox Communications has signed a distribution deal with Lifetime Television that includes carriage of Lifetime HD and Lifetime Movie Network HD. Cox already is planning to roll out Lifetime HD in some of its systems in the next couple of weeks. More from B&C.

'Ellen' Making HD Jump in September

Broadcasting & Cable reports that daytime talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show will move to a high-def studio in Burbank, Calif. this fall and that its first HD episode will air on September 8th. 

DISH Dumping VOOM HD

Something had to give. In its efforts to keep up with rival DIRECTV, satcaster DISH Network yesterday added 22 new HD channels, which give it more HD channels than most cable companies and almost as many as DIRECTV. However, to make room for the new channels DISH is dropping the 15 VOOM HD channels it has carried for the last couple of years since it acquired the VOOM satellite. DISH has already dumped 10 of the 15 and plans to drop the other 5 as soon as it can. Multichannel News has the full story.

In addition to needing the bandwidth for the more brand-name HD channels it launched yesterday such as Disney and ESPNEWS, DISH's decision was made easier by the fact that it is currently in the midst of litigation with VOOM over what DISH claims is a breach in the carriage agreement by VOOM.

With VOOM on the way out at DISH, VOOM's sister company Cablevision will be the only remaining distributor of VOOM HD programming.

Encore to Make HD Debut in July

Encore HD will launch this July, parent company Starz announced this morning. Showcasing movies such as Cars, Click, Talladega Nights, Gone in Sixty Seconds and Remember the Titans, Encore HD will be the Starz group's sixth linear HD movie channel. Previously, Encore had been available in high-def only as an on demand offering with Comcast, although a linear Encore HD was briefly available on the old VOOM satellite system three to four years ago.

DISH Expands HD Lineup in a Big Way

DISH today embarked on a major expansion of its high-def lineup, adding 17 new national HD channels. Additionally, two regional sports networks -- Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and Comcast SportsNet New England -- will be added in high-def on Wednesday. The new national channels, which join CNN HD, Sci-Fi HD and USA HD (added last week) are listed below. Notable additions are Travel Channel HD, which rival DIRECTV still does not offer, and World Fishing Network HD, which just sounds funny. 

DIRECTV and DISH are getting closer to parity now in terms of national HD channels offered, although 15 of DISH's are the VOOM HD channels, which aren't exactly brand-name. And DIRECTV still has the exclusive rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket package in high-def. But all things considered, DISH suddenly became quite a bit more competitive in the HD arena. Which is good for them considering that their quarterly earnings report filed with the SEC today showed only 35,000 new net subscribers in the Q1, compared to 275,000 for DIRECTV.

New DISH HD Channels 

• ABC Family HD
• Biography HD
• Bravo HD
• Cartoon HD
• Cinemax 5-Star HD
• Cinemax West HD
• CNBC HD
• Disney HD
• ESPNEWS HD
• Hallmark Movie Channel HD
• MGM HD
• Smithsonian HD
• Tennis Channel HD
• Toon Disney HD
• Travel Channel HD
• Weather Channel HD
• World Fishing Network HD

HD On Demand Posing Bandwidth Challenge

There's an interesting piece in Multichannel News this morning about the race between cable companies and telcos to offer high-def video on demand and where they're finding the bandwidth to do it.

RCN Going All-Digital in Boston to Up HD Ante

Light Reading has the story of RCN's transition to an all-digital cable system in Boston, which is now 82% complete. The company has already gone all-digital in Chicago (it competes with Comcast in both markets) and expects to be able to offer more than 100 HD channels after the transition is complete.

DISH Continues HD Local Ramp-Up in New England

DISH Network said yesterday that it has added HD local broadcast channels in Hartford/New Haven, Conn. as well as Portland-Auburn, Maine. 57 U.S. markets can now receive high-def locals courtesy of DISH.

DIRECTV Offering Tennis Channel HD Free Preview

DIRECTV is offering subscribers a free preview of the Tennis Channel HD during the French Open, which runs from May 25 through June 7. Normally Tennis HD is part of DIRECTV's sports package, the Choice Xtra package or the Premier package. 

First DTV Switch: Wilmington, NC -- This September!

In what amounts to a trial for the Federal Communications Commission and the nation's broadcasters, Wilmington, N.C. will get the distinction of becoming the nation's first all-digital TV city this September 8th. Multichannel News reports that Wilmington has 10 licensed TV stations that will make the cutover from analog to digital exactly four months from tomorrow. Wilmington is 135th on Nielsen's ranking of the top 210 TV markets in the U.S. and nearly 93% of Wilmington households subscribe to cable or satellite TV service, meaning that any snafus in the digital transition should be have a relatively impact on the community.

Samsung, Sony, VIZIO Are Best-Selling LCD Brands

DisplaySearch came out with its quarterly North American LCD TV sales figures yesterday and they show that Samsung reclaimed the number one spot in Q1, followed closely by Sony and VIZIO. The race is very tight, however, with the three top dogs being separated by less than half a point in market share. 

Panasonic continues to lead the domestic plasma TV space handily, with fully one-third of the PDP market.

AT&T Solves Second HD Stream Issue

Much has been made of the fact that customers of AT&T's U-verse IPTV service can only watch HD on one TV at a time -- competitor Time Warner Cable even made a TV ad about the limitation. AT&T has told us for some time that their engineers are working on a solution, and apparently a second HD stream is now available to U-verse subscribers in St. Louis. CED Magazine has the full story and also reports that AT&T is working on HD video on demand.

HDNet Turns to Dan Rather for Primary Coverage

Veteran newsman Dan Rather will extend his assignment with Mark Cuban's HDNet, anchoring the channel's coverage of the Indiana and North Carolina primaries tonight from 7:00 to 9:00 PM Eastern time. The Hollywood Reporter has the full story. HDNet's coverage, according to Rather, will be very un-CNN like, billed as more of a conversation with guests like former Congressman Tony Coelho and political experts Donald Fowler, Peter Hart and Tom Rosenstiel.

HDTV Prices Going Up?

CNN Money runs a piece this morning in which certain analysts and industry insiders speculate that HDTV prices may actually rise by the end of this year, thanks to higher production costs in China, the still-weak U.S. dollar and high fuel costs. Not everyone agrees that flat-panel TV prices have hit bottom; indeed, history shows that with constant innovation in technology, older technology becomes obsolete and prices continue to fall. Regardless, there may be a short-term increase due to the factors cited above.

A&E Planning New HD Ad Campaign

A&E Networks, which over the last 18 months has launched A&E HD, History HD and Biography HD, is planning a new ad campaign to its affiliates called "Wide Appeal." The campaign will tout the company's HD gains -- 77 million consumers now have A&E HD available to them -- and its continued investment in high-def technology, according to Multichannel News. Crime & Investigation HD will be the company's fourth high-def channel when it launches late this year.

Hitachi 1.5-Inch LCD TV Now Available

If Sony's 11-inch, 3-millimeter-thick OLED at $2,500 isn't a realistic option for you, consider Hitachi's latest series of LCD TVs which are a-pretty-amazing-in-their-own-right inch-and-a-half thick. CNET's News Blog has more.

DVD Killer: Apple Inks Key Deals for iTunes Movies

Apple announced today that it has reached agreement with the major Hollywood studios to offer movies for purchase on iTunes the same day that they're released on DVD, a major coup that has the potential to transform the movie industry akin to how iTunes revolutionized the music business. Reuters reports that new releases will be available for $14.99 and library titles will go for $9.99. Movie rentals for new releases are still $3.99 but those will continue to be available about 30 days after they go on sale.

Sharp Intros Wireless LCD TVs

Sharp is using techology from Amimon to transmit HD signals wirelessly, eliminating the need for HDMI or component cables running between the TV and a separate tuner. TWICE reports that Amimon's system is capable of transmitting an uncompressed HD video signal at the same quality level of a direct HDMI connection.

Time Warner S.A. Adds Travel & Outdoor Channels HD

Time Warner Cable in San Antonio has added Travel Channel HD and The Outdoor Channel HD to its high-def lineup, bringing to 57 the number of HD channels it offers there. h/t to the San Antonio Business Journal.

Smaller Plasma Panels Spark Year-Over-Year Jump

Market researcher DisplaySearch reports that although plasma display panel shipments fell from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2008, PDP units were up 53% year-over-year thanks to strong growth in the 32-inch segment. Plasma also continues to enjoy a price advantage over LCD in the 42-inch size. Interestingly, Panasonic/Matsushita was not the largest manufacturer of PDPs in Q1, losing that distinction to LG Electronics and also being surpassed by Samsung SDI. More from TWICE.

Sezmi Promises HD Video Using IP Set-Top Box

A new startup called Sezmi (f.k.a. Building B) launched last year to great fanfare, promising HD broadcast video along with a select group of traditional cable channels that will enable Internet providers to compete with the likes of cable and satellite companies. The company is still working on the technology -- it involves an advanced IP set-top box -- but Sezmi said today that it is planning to test its service in three undisclosed markets this summer with an eye toward launching commercially by the end of this year. More from Multichannel News, which reports that the company has not yet announced any content or distribution partners but is generating a significant amount of buzz nonetheless.

Comcast Debuts 11 New HD Channels in Pacific NW

Comcast this morning announced that it has added 11 new high-def networks to its lineup in the Oregon and southwest Washington state markets. They are:

1. ABC Family HD
2. Disney Channel HD
3. Discovery Channel HD
4. TLC HD
5. Animal Planet HD
6. Science Channel HD
7. Food Network HD
8. Sci-Fi HD
9. CNN HD
10. AMC HD
11. TBS HD

DISH Adds HD Locals in Virginia

DISH Network said this morning that it has added HD local broadcast channels in Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News, Virginia. The satcaster now offers HD locals in 55 U.S. markets covering 64% of TV households nationwide.