The Case for a $100/Month Super-Premium Global HDTV Programming Service

I sincerely believe there is not only room, but demand for all of the product delivered during its peak publicity window. To date the only way to deliver the whole product is the motion picture theater at $7 or $8 per ticket. The MPAA's Jack Valenti pointed out the obvious when he said that the willingness of the

On Broadway

consumer to spend for a movie is congruent with the access he/she has to the movie during its peak publicity period. The heart of my argument says there are sufficient numbers of people throughout the world willing to pay higher prices for a super-premium program service in their home.

That segment is not the market HBO targets. It's not the theater-going market either. The market HBO and Cinamax covet at $10 per month (half to them, half to the cable or DBS operator), is the moderate income families who subscribe as their lowest cost entertainment option after network and 1st tier TV. The fact that the upper income group is also subscribing is inconsequential. They do so more by default as there is nowhere else to turn other than pre-recorded discs. But pre-recorded does not offer live (or near-live programming). The top segment is left under-served. I know there is a group--limited as it may be--that will pay substantially more for their programming. I do not shrink from believing that a $100 per month subscriber fee is possible. It is strictly up to the consistant quality of the programming. If a viewer takes five of today's $3 PPV programs per week--roughly 10 hours of entertainment (or 40 hours per month)-repriced at the theatrical level of $7.00 (during theatrical release time), it is $280. Al in all first run in the home for $100 per month is a bargain.

Program suppliers should be seen as full partners to a high-performance signal provider. It will be in their best interest to promote such a premium service since it becomes the easiest means for marketing their products. This deviates from the original model where television distribution services i.e., the networks, were set at a variance from the program suppliers with regulation (urged by Hollywood to protect themselves from being overcome by the nets). Nowhere is it written that this model must survive. Video can rightly be viewed as a best friend to movie makers. It has become so already.

With a mix of movies and events, a global DBS station can easily be arranged. Those transponders are avilable today. Several languages can be simulcast. Movies sell internationally. Events may be more localized in appeal for a time, but not much longer. A 24 hour per day prime time global network is the way to launch the next generation of television. The events will come from regions as the prime time clock dictates. For example, prime time over Europe might feature a music festivals from Salsburg. Of course, it plays everywhere else to hopefully interested audiences, but not in their prime time. Then the prime time moves to the US, where the event might be a concert from Central Park. Ten hours later the prime time is over Asia. The International Asian music and cultural festival could be featured. Interspersed are the beloved movies. This is only an idea to open discussion on programming philosophy for an international DBS HDTV service.

On the technical front, going international can do wonders for standards. It will do wonders for integrating cultures into one which is the global view. One might be a nationalist, or even an isolationist, but who can escape the fact of our "globalization" driven by the communications facilities of today? What is left other than making the best out of it? The HDTV network, as I see it, can be a significant cultural contribution--the global village in bloom.

Did you say "boom?"
No, no. I am far more optimistic about the coming era, especially considering the spectacular events forecast by our cultural leaders as we enter enthusiasitcally the new millennium.

Is all of this too expensive?
The heavy price has already been paid. We have the technology. There are movies, and certainly more to be made. There are HD cameras for live events and sports. Receivers have been designed. The encoding and decoding is ready for full production. The digital VCR (DVR) has been decided upon. The bottom line is that we are in a unique position to draw from tremendous advances in both technical and artistic expression to deliver the most outstanding technical and artistic step forward in history. After all, anything less from a 27 year struggle is anticlimactic.

© 1995 - 1999 Dale Cripps
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