Despite an unstable economic climate, the decision by three major networks to pull out of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), and a question mark over the future of free broadcast television, attendance at the NAB convention in Las Vegas (4/22-26) declined only slightly as compared to last year. The 2001 confab drew 112,776 visitors, including 29,632 international attendees.
In his keynote address on the state of the industry, NAB president/CEO Edward O. Fritts delivered the somber reminder that the broadcast industry was facing the most difficult advertising market since the late 1980s/early ’90s. "Added to that economic reality, we are up against more competitors than ever before: satellite, cable, broadband, the Internet," he said. "All this is coming at a time when we are faced with the very expensive transition to digital. The very future of broadcasting rests on the successful completion of this transition."
Fritts identified two possible timelines to follow in the transition to digital television (DTV): market demand, whereby the transition would take many, many years; or a government deadline that forces consumers to replace nearly 300 million analog television sets within the next five years. "I submit that if we follow the government timeline, there needs to be minimal government intervention to facilitate the needs of consumers," he stated. Fritts contended that three actions needed to be taken in order to encourage consumer acceptance of DTV: First, the cable gatekeepers must carry the local broadcast channels offering digital and HDTV programming; second, TV manufacturers must put DTV tuners in every new set that is made so the sets can receive both analog and digital; and third, the issue of interoperability must be resolved.
In his address, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman Michael Powell said that the 2002 deadline for commercial stations to begin broadcasting digital television (DTV) would be maintained for now. (A 2006 deadline has been set for the completion of the transition to digital.) He related: "I know that when the date arrives there will be questions about stations unable to meet the deadlines, but I don’t see any value in pronouncing that we will waive the deadlines. It is important to be driving towards that objective." While he expressed concern about the problems smaller stations face in making the costly transition to DTV, Powell maintained that these stations will have to find some way to adjust and survive in the digital revolution.
Aside from the technological, financial and political challenges faced by broadcasters, there is also division within the ranks of the NAB. NBC, CBS and Fox left the broadcast association because of disagreements over an NAB-backed limit on the number of TV stations a network can own. There is also discord between the major networks and local affiliates (represented by the National Association of Affiliated Stations) over the level of power that the major networks have in negotiating for programming. "Never in our history have tensions been so high," observed Fritts during his address. "There are those who worry about the future of our association and our industry. Well, I can tell you that I have total confidence in the future of the NAB. We will continue to be a vibrant, aggressive advocate for free broadcasting."
But Powell put a damper on the notion of "free television" with the observation that an increasing number of Americans pay for their television, whether it be cable or pay-per-view, and the day might arrive when this number reaches 98 percent of the population. "What will this mean for free over-the-air TV? It shouldn’t mean that it is dead, necessarily. It shouldn’t mean that the enormous value that broadcasters provide won’t find a place in that space [the future landscape of news, entertainment and information delivery], as well, but I don’t think it is naïve to be identifying, watching, examining and thinking long and hard about what those trends may mean," said Powell.
Outside of the political debates, the show floor was full of new product, as well as enhancements to existing equipment. SHOOT continues its round-up of the latest offerings:
PHILIPS
In March, Paris-headquartered Thomson Multimedia completed the acquisition of the Philips Professional Broadcast group. The five businesses in the group are Cameras, Film Imaging, Signal Processing (digital production switchers), Media Networking & Control (routing and switchers) and the Philips Broadcast Systems Group. Combined with Thomson Broadcast Systems and Nextstream, the new company will be known as Thomson Multimedia Broadcast Solutions. The acquisition gives Thomson 66 percent of Philips, and within two years Thomson plans to acquire the rest of Philips and gradually phase out that brand name.
At NAB, Philips announced that it had now sold the 200th Spirit Datacine. For now, the Spirit and other existing telecine products will continue to be branded as Philips products. Spirit 2, an upgraded version of Spirit, has been in development for some time now. It is expected to be launched at the International Broadcasters Convention (IBC) in ’02. Spirit 2 will be 4K switchable and offer speeds in excess of 30 frames per second on 2K, and up to eight frames per second in 4K. Shipping price will be in the range of $1 million in the U.S.
Steve Russell, marketing manager, Film Imaging, U.S., said that as more post tools become digital, the telecine will be used differently. "The current way of working is not very efficient. You have a colorist who spends 80 percent of his time just waiting. The Spirit 2 hopes to allow users to utilize the speed of the machine to digitize film very quickly into a virtual telecine—such as the Specter Virtual DataCine—where you can do every single thing you can on a telecine, with no loss of creativity," explained Russell.
Commenting on the fact that Cintel and Innovation TK had launched 4K telecine systems, Ralph Chaloub, marketing manager, Film Imaging, France, said that he didn’t think there was currently a big enough market for 4K. "I think there is more money in Super-8," he opined. Partly this demand for the Super-8 has been driven by commercial directors used to working with the Spirit, then continuing to use the equipment when they enter other arenas, such as music videos and short films.
During this year’s NAB, the Voodoo Data Recorder, for the storage and archiving of film image data, garnered attention from attendees. The new data interface allows the Voodoo to be used as a high-speed data back-up device. It will ship for around $180,000. Philips’ other main launch at NAB in the telecine area was Scream, a resolution-independent noise/grain reduction system for the Spirit, Shadow Datacine and the Specter.
NET-36
Net-36, a Greenwich, Conn.-based division of PanAmSat Corporation, announced that it will be working with production houses to develop and launch broadband-specific programming. These projects are designed to extend traditional brands online, attract Internet brands and generate revenue through online distribution and pay per view subscription models. Net-36 uses satellites to "jump over" Internet congestion and deliver clear, focused video to end-users at 30 frames per second.
Net-36 claims to reach 60 percent of broadband-connected houses in the U.S. through agreements with Excite@Home, BellSouth, Qwest and DirecPC. Chris Sheik, Net-36’s director product marketing, said that the improvement in viewing quality allows advertisers to send advertisements that are more compelling. "Advertising on the Web hasn’t taken off, because the ads look like billboards on a highway," he observed. "Now commercialmakers can shoot something the same way they would for television and repurpose it for the Web and trust it won’t be destroyed along the way." Jupiter Media Metrix predicts that in excess of 28 million homes will use a high-speed Internet connection by ’05.
WAM!NET
WAM!NET, Eagan, Minn., set up shop in the C2K Theater in the Venetian Hotel, where in conjunction with Lucent Tech-nologies, WAM!NET demonstrated live digital video sent from the C2K theater to the show floor via an IP (Internet Protocol) network. In the past 12 months, WAM!NET has forged relationships with the aforementioned Lucent, Christie Digital, Cisco, beam.tv, eMotion, HTV, QuVIS, Telestream, Unique ID, Visual Circuits, WORLDTRAX and Xtech to form the WAM!NET Digital Media Workflow Showcase.
At the show it was announced that Final Cut, a London and New York editing facility, has selected WAM!NET to provide Internet connectivity between its video and commercial facilities in Britain and the U.S.
Product announcements included upgrades to Render On Demand, WAM!NET Storage Services and WAM!NET Video Services.
UNIQUE ID
London-based Unique ID announced the stateside launch of CakeS RemotE. The Web-based module of asset tracking and production management system CakeS promises to deliver improved efficiency and new revenue opportunities to post houses and other content creators in the U.S. This is achieved by enabling the on-demand viewing and manipulation of stored media assets via the Internet. At the show, Unique ID announced a partnership with Montreal-based Discreet, a division of Autodesk, to develop CakeS technology as a plug-in for editing and compositing products Smoke, Fire, Flame, Inferno and Backdraft. The previously mentioned relationship with WAM!NET allows for the integration of CakeS into WAM!NET’s global managed network and data storage architecture.
DISCREET
Discreet introduced Heatwave, a new infrastructure and workflow environment that integrates Discreet’s Stone, Wire, Backdraft and Jobnet, as well as third-party applications, across differing platforms, networks and operating systems. As part of Heatwave, Discreet also announced a strategic partnership with Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-headquartered da Vinci Systems, to create Revival. This is an interactive and automated film-cleaning and image-fixing software, which provides alternative methods to the traditional chemical-based process of removing dirt, dust, blotches and scratches. Revival will be shipping by the fall with a base configuration price of $58,000. Heatwave is designed to allow broadcasters, postproduction and content creation companies to capture, manage, share, distribute and archive media assets for all resolutions, including film and hi-def.
