Broadcasters and industry leaders offered an overview and update on HDTV in the U.S. during last week’s Hollywood Post Alliance (HPA) Technology Retreat in Palm Springs, an annual event celebrating its 10th anniversary. Not surprisingly, the conclusion was that HD content availability has grown dramatically, and HD interest from advertisers continues to lag far behind.
The major broadcast networks all reported that all or a majority of their primetime series programming is now produced and broadcast in HD, as well as a growing number of special events and sports, which this year will include Fox’s HD offering of the upcoming Super Bowl as well as the Daytona 500, ABC’s Academy Awards coverage and CBS’ Grammy broadcast. Recent HD events included the Presidential Inauguration and the NFL playoffs.
Tempering that encouraging HD program news was the news that Cablevision was disbanding its VOOM HD satellite system, selling the unprofitable service to EchoStar.
HD EDUCATION
During the discussion period of the broadcast session at the HPA Retreat, engineering director Rich Torpey of New York-based Rhinoceros encouraged broadcasters to help post houses to educate their advertiser clients about HD opportunities.
Broadcasters acknowledged the lack of advertiser interest in HD, and offered some perspectives. Some believe the lack of interest continues to stem from the inability to offer the quantifiable viewing audience that advertisers seek. Predictions at HPA were that anywhere from around 4 percent to 10 percent of U.S. households currently receive HDTV.
Harold Protter, senior VP of Technology at The WB Television Network, suggested that even at 10 percent that audience would likely make up nearly 50 percent of the business community and a key target market for advertisers. He said that The WB doesn’t charge a premium to air HD produced ads, and that they are accepting HD ads in any format. “We do not want to place any technical or financial obstacles in the way of advertisers adopting HD,” Potter explained.
In contrast, CBS’ VP of engineering and advanced technology Bob Siedel reported that the CBS stations in the Miami and Chicago markets have started to charge a premium to have advertising on its HD broadcasts, saying that HD allows advertisers to better reach a more targeted audience with superior advertising. He said that activity amounted to about five HD produced spots per week in 2004; he is hopeful for growth this year.
Siedel added that a CBS affiliate in New Orleans has gone a step further. He reported that in this market, the commercials from advertisers that do not pay the premium are completely deleted from the HD broadcast, and a station logo appears in their place. (Today, most stations upconvert and broadcast a standard definition commercial during an HD broadcast, even though the image quality is visibly inferior to the programming.)
Broadcasters observed that by reviewing the early adopter patterns and programming, an advertiser could potentially target key demographics. Siedel noted that many early adopters of HD sets are males, college educated and affluent, so offering HD commercials during targeted events such as golf are a good way for advertisers to reach this demographic.
That also pertains to the Super Bowl. Jim DeFilippis senior VP of television engineering at Fox, which this weekend will broadcast the Super Bowl, reported that in anticipation of the Big Game, he received more than a dozen calls from advertisers, asking questions about HD opportunities. He did not have final figures on the number of HD spots that would air during the game; SHOOT has identified at least seven such commercials (SHOOT, 1/28, p. 1).
ANALOG SHUT OFF?
Another key topic relative to the digital television transition (which affords HDTV as one of its options) is when the federal government will turn off today’s current analog broadcasting system. The original FCC Fifth Report and Order, which began the DTV transition in the U.S. in 1996, stated that the current analog spectrum used for today’s television broadcasting will be turned off and surrendered to the U.S. government for auction on Dec. 31, 2006. However, it stated that the date could be extended if less than 85 percent of the country is unable to receive a DTV signal.
The common belief is that the 85 percent figure is unachievable in that timeframe. But speakers also pointed to numerous bills currently in Washington that would either speed up the transition or change the interpretation of that 85 percent barometer. During the HPA session, speakers could only make predictions as to when that spectrum would be returned to the government, with guesses ranging from 2009 to 2012.
Meanwhile, other HPA sessions and demos highlighted some of the latest technical trends in production and postproduction technology. See next week’s SHOOT for further coverage.
