Dear Readers:
I hope the new grid guide is proving itself useful. Please give us
that all-important feedback--what you would like added or made easier in
setting it up, etc.,. I look forward to our vast art department
(laughingly made up of me) making it come alive with color and graphics.
We will be very cautious about page download times and the "clunkiness"
factor that many run into when using other grid styles guides on the
Internet. At the same time we recognize that this nation has 30 million
high speed internet connections. Accommodating dial-up is not what
we can do and stay ahead.
Our daily email we will now focus upon news and those things which
are shaping the future of television. I will once again be focused on
those issues which lead or impede the transition.
EDUCATION
George Lucas said on Charlie Rose's PBS program the other day that
digital technology and the revolution it is causing is replacing the
industrial revolution. He believes that the industrial revolution sent
education downhill, The digital revolution promises to reverse the trend
and lead us to a higher level of general education as opposed to the
industrial age that had to focus upon specific and limiting job skill
training.
JOB ONE
In the HDTV part of the transition Quality is job number one, and I
mean that with a capital Q. Should it become compromised by any link in
the chain (from camera to your eyes) for any of many reasons--display
cost, bandwidth crimping, decoding cost, production cost cutting, poor
factory settings--the value of the term "HDTV" plummets exponentially.
An improved NTSC system (essentially the DVD quality), was offered to us
years ago by NBC, Sarnoff, and Philips and summarily rejected in this
nation (though faired better in Europe and Japan). But Rupert Murdoch,
who was once thought the black knight of HDTV, has announced that he
will launch 4 more highly advanced satellites in the 2005--2007 frame
(with U.S.-based Boeing as prime contractor). Spaceway 1 and Spaceway 2,
the first of the new satellites, will be launched into orbit in 2005,
with programming to available by mid-year. The two satellites will have
a combined capacity for 500 local HDTV channels. Spaceway 1 and Spaceway
2 are near completion with both recently modified for video and
broadband Internet service. A second pair of satellites, DirecTV 10 and
DirecTV 11, will go up early 2007, with capacity for more than 1000
additional local HD channels, and more than 150 national HD channels.
DirecTV will deliver national HD programming and be capable of
supporting spot beams carrying local HD broadcast channels in all 50
states. What pressure will there be to reduced bitrates to accommodate
this ambition? That is the question which is being asked frequently on
forums and email inquiries. According to DirecTV there is no answer as
yet. The question of adopting more efficient coding, i.e., MPEG 4,
remains an open one. But at minimum this is a stunning announcement for
HDTV and certainly puts more wind in ever-larger sails...if the quality
of signal is held high.
AND MORE NEWS FROM DIRECTV YOU CAN USE...
DIRECTV and Samsung Electronics Tell Consumers Now
Is the Time to Experience High-Definition Television
Extensive marketing campaign launched to support HD equipment
and programming offers;
New DIRECTV customers save more than $500 off DIRECTV® Programming
and Samsung HD equipment
EL SEGUNDO, CA, Sept 13, 2004 – As part of an extensive $15 million
marketing campaign to support DIRECTV high-definition (HD) programming
and Samsung equipment offers, DIRECTV, Inc., the nationÂ’s leading
digital multichannel television service provider, and Samsung, announced
today the launch of a new HD television bundled equipment and
programming offer for new and existing DIRECTV customers, at retail
locations across the country.
New customers who subscribe to the NFL SUNDAY TICKET™ and DIRECTV HD
programming packages will receive four free months of the programming
package, TOTAL CHOICE® PREMIER with Local Channels package (a $363.96
value), and six free months of the DIRECTV HD programming package (a
$65.94 value). Plus, this season, subscribers to the DIRECTV-exclusive
NFL SUNDAY TICKET™ package will be able to watch more than 100
broadcasts of 2004 NFL regular season games in HD.
In addition, new customers who purchase a Samsung HDTV monitor ($999
and above) will receive an instant rebate of $100 off any
Samsung-DIRECTV® HD receiver or the DIRECTV HD DVR. The DIRECTV®
programming offers, combined with the Samsung HD equipment offer, gives
new DIRECTV customers a savings of more than $500.
Existing DIRECTV customers will also receive $100 off of a
Samsung-DIRECTV HD receiver if they purchase any Samsung HDTV monitor
over $999, as well as receive six months of the DIRECTV HD Package (a
$65.94 value) and three months of SHOWTIME UNLIMITED, including SHOWTIME
HD (a $36 value), for free – giving existing customers a total savings
of more than $200. The offers, which are currently available and will
run through Oct. 30, 2004, will be promoted through direct mail, on-air
spots, point of purchase displays and integrated on-line advertising.
“With more than $15 million in combined marketing support behind a
consumer offer valued at over $500, we believe this to be the most
aggressive HD push by anyone to date, and it reinforces our commitment
to growing the HD category and to providing consumers with a robust HD
alternative to their cable providers,” said Neal Tiles, executive vice
president, Marketing, DIRECTV, Inc. “By expanding our lineup of HD
programming, working with strong national consumer electronics
manufacturers like Samsung, and partnering with leading retailers like
Best Buy, Circuit City and CompUSA, we are making it even easier and
more affordable for consumers to purchase HD equipment and enhance their
overall television viewing experience. WeÂ’re telling consumers there is
no better time to step up to HD.”
DIRECTV currently offers a national HD Package that includes ESPN HD,
Discovery HD Theater™, HDNet, HDNet Movies, Bravo HD+ and HD Special
Event programming, for $10.99 per month. In addition to this package,
DIRECTV offers HD Pay Per View programming, as well as HBO® HDTV and SHO
HD® (Included with their respective HBO® and SHOWTIME UNLIMTED® premium
programming subscriptions). DIRECTV also delivers the national CBS HD
feed for customers who live in CBS owned and operated (O&O) markets and
is scheduled to launch the national NBC HD feed to customers living in
NBC O&O markets later this month.
“The national transition to digital TV, and more specifically to high
definition TV, is happening quickly thanks to greater consumer access to
HD programming and innovative thin and lightweight TV displays such as
Samsung’s award winning line-up of DLP TV, plasma and LCD TVs,” said Jim
Sanduski, vice president of Marketing for SamsungÂ’s Visual Display
Products Group. “By partnering with DIRECTV and our key retailers in
this marketing campaign, weÂ’re giving consumers even more incentives to
take the next step to HDTV and revolutionize their home television
viewing experience.”
To access HDTV channels, customers must have a DIRECTV HD set-top
receiver, an HD television set and a single 18x20-inch multi-satellite
dish with three LNBs.
*Actual number of games varies by market due to
blackouts and other conditions. To access DIRECTV High-Definition
-programming, a triple LNB Multi-Satellite dish antenna, along with a
DIRECTV HD Receiver and High-Definition television equipment, is
required. Hardware and services sold separately.
###
From The
Motley Fool
The following reflects another of the LCOS "wish it were easier"
stories.
Brillian Blows It
By Dave Marino-Nachison
September 13, 2004
We last looked closely at Brillian (Nasdaq: BRLC) back in April, when
the company's shares got a boost on news of substantial orders for a new
HDTV product it was developing using technology to bring extraordinarily
high-quality images to viewer households. The company's shares held more
or less steady since then -- until Friday, when they dropped more than
12% on news of downbeat third-quarter guidance.
Brillian said in a pair of Thursday night press releases that the
aforementioned product wouldn't be able to ship in significant volumes
until the third quarter because a key part wasn't available in the
quantities needed. Interestingly, Brillian identified the company that
failed it -- JDS Uniphase (Nasdaq: JDSU) -- but also took the unusual
step of giving JDS the opportunity to make its case and defend itself,
as it were, in its announcement.
The near-term hit to Brillian's business is substantial. Revenue
guidance for the quarter was dropped to $800,000 at the most, down from
initial estimates of between $2.8 million and $3.2 million. Net losses,
meanwhile, are seen between $5.6 million and $6.1 million, up from an
old worst-case estimate of $4.9 million. Fourth-quarter revenues,
meanwhile, are up in the air as the company waits to see how the
components come through.
All told, it's bad news for a company that should be in the right place
at the right time with high-end TVs the "new black" in household
electronics. That these TVs were intended for a new retail partner only
adds to the sting: That retailer can't be happy that they weren't ready
for the start of NFL football -- a time of year ready-made I can report,
for the company of good friends, three steaming slow cookers, and
Tanner's 60-inch TV set.
Brillian's hot new TVs, it appears, won't get to join the party until
the season is well under way.
Fool contributor Dave Marino-Nachison doesn't own any of the companies
in this story.
