With the DTV transition underway, a search for new business opportunities begins. Advertising figures prominently in future prospects.
Evidence includes the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA)-sponsored DTV Summit last month in Tyson’s Corner, Va., which was keynoted by Jim Gosney, associate director of commercial production advertising worldwide for Cincinnati-headquartered Procter and Gamble. Gosney’s address-highlighted later in this story-was heard by an audience comprised of representatives from different industry sectors, including event co-sponsors the Association for Maximum Service Television (MSTV), the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), the National Cable Television Association (NCTA), and the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA).
In another testament to growing interest in HD and advertising, The Advertising Council recently named Barry Rebo’s Rebo Associates, New York, as its high definition television consultant. Rebo will spearhead the development and implementation of a plan to bring HDTV format versions of many of The Advertising Council’s upcoming public-service campaigns to the nation’s fledgling digital broadcasters, as well as retail chains. Rebo, who has been pioneering HD production since ’86, closed his Rebo Studio towards the end of ’98, while maintaining Rebo Associates.
Yet for most of the industry, DTV remains a confusing subject filled with conflicting messages. Due in part to this state of affairs, the ad community is moving at a slow pace to educate itself and make decisions involving the medium.
To put things in perspective, it’s only in recent months that the first batch of stations began digital broadcasting as part of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) mandated DTV transition schedule, and no one expected the transition to happen overnight.
But some are reporting forward movement. With shelf life a concern in long-form arenas, studios and TV program producers are beginning to embrace the HD medium. As a result, post houses that made an early transition to offering HD services are reaping these benefits.
Of course spots have a shorter shelf life, and as a result commercialmakers feel less urgency to follow. The good news for commercialmakers is there may be an end in sight for the standards issue as 1080/24P is fast gaining support as an HD postproduction-mastering format. Widely considered the holy grail in the industry as it boasts the highest quality of the ATSC DTV formats, this could put to rest some of the format concerns that have caused a high level of hesitance in the post community. The rationale is to master in 1080/24P and then convert the material to meet individual job requirements. Momentum is gaining fast for this solution because this week at NAB, major industry players, including Sony, Panasonic, Philips, Quantel, Avid, and Discreet, are saying that they will unveil 24P supported products. If real, the next question surrounds availability (see SHOOT newsweekly, p. 1).
HD Interest
DTV proponents believe its benefits are obvious: A wider screen, engaging HD images and sound, along with ancillary data and interactive options.
That belief has been supported by numerous studies. Among the most recent is one conducted in the USAir terminal at New York’s La Guardia Airport by MediaCom, the media planning and buying unit of Grey Advertising, New York.
HDTV kiosks were placed in the terminal for public viewing. Roughly 500 passersby responded to a questionnaire about what they saw. Sixty-five percent of those surveyed said they were more likely to buy a DTV, and 42% of adult respondents said they paid more attention to the screen. Twenty-three percent said they would be more likely to watch commercials if they were in HDTV (see charts).
Not surprised by this response was P&G, which has played a pioneering role in DTV advertising. P&G formed a DTV Task Force with its agencies over a year ago. Since then, it produced HD versions of seven film commercials and it originated another in HD video. Some of these spots aired during such pioneering events as last October’s HD broadcast of the John Glenn space launch, which was the first national HDTV commercial broadcast. Some of these spots also aired during other early HD program telecasts.
National advertisers are slowly beginning to check out HD’s possibilities. David Perry, executive VP/director of broadcast production at Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, and Buzz Warren, senior VP/deputy director of broadcast production at Grey, both report growing interest in HD from clients. Saatchi has already produced two HD Tide spots for P&G; Grey completed an HD spot for P&G brand Olean. Perry-who also chairs the American Association of Advertising Agencies’ (4A’s) broadcast production committee-expects Saatchi will have several more HD spots under its belt by year’s end.
Ad Council
As for the aforementioned initiative from The Advertising Council, executive VP and chief operating officer, S. Murray Gaylord remarks, "The Ad Council sees a tremendous opportunity in providing the nation’s pioneering DTV broadcasters with DTV format versions of representative offerings from some of our current and upcoming campaigns.
"We’re realistic in knowing that the number of sets in the open market is extremely low, at this time. But we feel that national and local broadcasters will be receptive to including our campaigns in whatever programming that they do transmit as there is little, if any, commercial advertisements going out now."
According to the NAB, over 50 television stations in the U.S. are now delivering digital signals, reaching nearly 40% of U.S. households. Per the FCC’s DTV mandate, network stations in the top 30 markets are scheduled to deliver digital signals, reaching over 60% of all television households, by November.
CEMA’s most recent figures show that 13,176 DTV sets have been delivered to dealers. Although hopeful, it did not know how many of those sets had been sold to consumers. While neither Rebo nor The Advertising Council expects to see the sale of DTV sets into consumer homes explode in the near future, they have identified the opportunity to get HD finished PSAs on local broadcasters’ DTV schedules and have them seen by the public in consumer electronics retail showrooms.
"Retailers, either national chains like Best Buy, Circuit City, regional ones and local high-end home theater designers are anxious to get a steady stream of HD programs for demonstration purposes during peak selling hours," explains Rebo. "Local broadcasters require the sale of DTV consumer sets so that they can begin to accumulate enough HD viewers to commence charging advertisers. Until then, the PSA becomes not only an important civic service, but a valuable part of the entire DTV promotional process. For agencies and production companies that support The Ad Council and its clients’ campaigns, it’s a useful opportunity to begin to explore the creation of DTV advertising for the time when commercial accounts will be requesting them."
Rebo was first approached by The Advertising Council last Spring. "At last year’s American Association of Advertising Agencies National Conference in Scottsdale [Ariz.], I was making a presentation about HD on behalf of the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association. Murray and I spoke about what a tremendous potential there might be in getting heavy rotation of their PSAs on the new digital channels. We began discussions in the fall. I would periodically review the technical issues with Ad Council producers, their agency counterparts, some directors and editors involved with campaigns. While some spots were finished in an HD format, getting the word out to DTV broadcasters was proving difficult, and that’s how we began to plan ways to work together." Rebo aims to distribute the existing spots as well as create and distribute new ones.
Post Opportunity
Of course, DTV is currently in a "chicken and egg" state between viewers and program producers. But the amount of DTV content is slowly growing since the transition formally began last fall.
PBS, for instance, broadcasts at least one HD program a month. "We are watching the market," says John Ruppental, PBS’ senior director/creative services. "As more [stations] make the transition and technology moves, we would increase HD programming." PBS has also been running data broadcasting tests in conjunction with Intel, and plans to begin testing multicasting capabilities in September.
Post houses, including Tape House, New York, and Washington-based The Interface Group, have already benefited by offering HD services to PBS. New York-based Lee Hunt Associates, PBS’ primary agency for branding, marketing and promotional services, is producing work in 35mm and widescreen so that it can be repurposed when needed for HD broadcasting.
HD adopters such as HBO, Unity Motion and Turner Broadcasting are also emerging as new clients for commercial post houses that are pioneering DTV production. That includes production of HD promos, logos and station IDs, as well as transfer and editing services for programming. (HBO Studio Productions, New York, is available for HD work for the cable network and outside clients.)
Another growing opportunity is theatrical film mastering for the studios. "When a film comes out, it is traditionally mastered in video to D1 to use for broadcast and video release," explains Dick Voss, president of Post Logic, Hollywood and Santa Monica. "[Now] the studios want to future proof. … They are transferring to HD D-5, 1080I. From that master, they downconvert to the format they need today.
"That’s a market that’s keeping us very busy," Voss continues. "We have a backlog of titles to transfer." That includes first-release titles from studios, including Warner Bros., Paramount and MGM.
Laser-Pacific Media, headquartered in Hollywood, also boasts some HD capabilities. And with Sony, it has been developing a 24P environment that is expected to be completed in June.
Laser-Pacific executive VP Leon Silverman reports that the company, like Post Logic, has already been mastering film titles in HD for the major studios. He adds that TV programming, documentaries and industrials also make up a significant portion of the work.
Feature mastering and TV series have also kept Tape House’s HD unit busy. At press time, it was editing a 10-part series Strangers With Candy, for Comedy Central’s Central Productions, New York. Tape House’s director of digital services Tim Spitzer reports that the series will be mastered in HD for shelf life although it will air in standard def. Promos, logos and station IDs, as previously mentioned, make up another revenue stream for Tape House.
Similarly Crawford Communications in Atlanta has generated programming and promo work. Most recently, it completed Tempest from the Deep, a one-hour HD documentary for National Geographic that will air in NTSC on TBS and will be archived in HD for future broadcasts. In the nonbroadcast arena, Crawford finished an HD presentation for Hertz.
Voss, Silverman, Spitzer and Crawford visual effects supervisor Ron Heidt report that commercialmakers are increasingly asking questions about HDTV. For a glimpse at the future, Silverman points to the past. "One thing is certain," he says. "Technical innovation in our industry started with 30-second movies. They have historically pushed the envelope in using tools to enhance creativity and distinguish themselves in quality."
Electronic Cinematography
On the production side of the equation, there appears to be growing interest in electronic cinematography as a viable-and cost effective-alternative to film origination (see NAB story, p. 1). Lucasfilm’s recent commitment to shoot Star Wars Episode II using HD cameras has helped that dialogue along.
Some commercial production houses have experimented with the medium, although it is unlikely that the spot industry will abandon film anytime soon. Many observers maintain the mediums will co-exist and format will be determined by individual job requirements.
Electronic cinematography got a huge endorsement last fall from Montreal-based Jules Verne Studios, which is operated by Jules Verne Productions-partnering numerous investors including Talisman Films, London, and Crest Entertainment (formerly Crest Films), the L.A. and Montreal-based production company owned by commercial and long-form director Pierre de Lespinois. (See "Oh Canada," p. 7 for more on this venture.)
Jules Verne Studios houses the production of HD television series The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne, a Canada-U.K. treaty co-production of Montreal-Filmline International and London-based Talisman Crest Films. The production consists of 22 one-hour episodes, some of which are being directed by de Lespinois.
Jules Verne uses Sony’s HDCAM cameras and technology. The decision to work in high definition was made in part for the needs of the Jules Verne production as well as to prepare for the pending transition to DTV and HDTV. The team found time and cost efficiencies.
For the project, de Lespinois says he has already shot 923 HDCAM tapes, equaling about 615 hours of material. He says the production spent about $64,000 on tape stock.
In contrast, de Lespinois estimates that it would have cost upwards of $4 million to shoot and process the same amount of material if it originated in 35mm. And he comments, "The [HDCAM] images are every bit as good as 35 mm."
De Lespinois believes HDTV is the future of the industry. Further, de Lespinois predicts "in the next five to 10 years, what you will see in the theatre is a projected HD image."
"HD movies in theatres may hasten HD broadcasting," Perry comments, "and there would be plenty of places to put HD spots once [HD] is in cinemas."
Call For Action
But today, the industry continues to get mixed messages. Gosney pointed this out during the recent DTV Summit. "Some broadcasters are saying that they aren’t interested in HDTV-instead, multicasting is the next thing," he says. "Some retailers seem to be more interested in selling analog sets than digital. Some people say Digital Must Carry is needed while others are saying it’s not. We hear that standards still need to be agreed to in areas such as closed captioning, surround sound, connectivity between broadcast and cable, and more. And, media reports are all over the lot from very negative to very positive."
So Gosney completed his DTV Summit address by identifying several developments that he believes need to happen in order for the masses of advertisers and agencies to be motivated to action:
He reports: "(1) Momentum must begin building in HDTV receiver sales. Competition and falling prices will certainly help. (2) A way to measure HDTV viewers who are watching HDTV programming must be implemented. (3) HDTV programming must increase significantly. (4) A better job must be done educating consumers and the advertising community. (5) The future capabilities of ancillary data and interactivity need real world testing and exposure to consumers. (6) HD postproduction equipment and processes need to continue to be developed. (7) The production community needs to have greater awareness and education about shooting for two aspect ratios. (8) The remaining standards issues need to be resolved quickly."
Gosney concludes: "All of the industries involved in digital television need to work together to overcome the remaining challenges and to send a clear, positive message to American consumers, and indeed to the advertising community that will be needed to support this transition-that HDTV and the other digital services are really on the way to being the television of the future which will make our lives better and more enjoyable."
Like Gosney, NAB’s VP of science and technology John Marino advises the ad community to get educated. "They should keep up to speed on what is going on," he strongly advises. "It’s very important what broadcasters and production studios are doing to create content and put HD material on the air. They don’t want to be in a situation where [other] agencies are ahead of them. They may be in a stage where they are not able to catch up."
Slowly, the industry is beginning to listen to this advice. Groups such as ITS, the East Coast Digital Consortium and AICP’s Minneapolis chapter have already held educational seminars for members as well as the ad community. Last month’s Broadcast Producers Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif., also hosted a session for agency producers that was completely dedicated to DTV and advertising.
Most of the education has surrounded HDTV production and post, but the DTV dialogue may be expanding to new areas in the coming year. Marino points out that the interactive opportunities are beginning to take shape. "We’ll probably see those around the year 2000," he predicts. "People are gearing up for what products and services will be introduced."
The aforementioned PBS/ Intel tests have been the pioneering effort in data broadcasting at this point in time. PBS is using the technology for educational purposes. Saatchi’s Perry reports that the dialogue for data capabilities and advertising is beginning.
For Gosney, this is a critical area where education is required. "The creative folks at our ad agencies-who will determine how the technology can be used to help sell our products and services-don’t understand how they can use the capability," he says. "Engineering experts need to bridge the gap to the creative community, soliciting partners for testing and research about ancillary data, interactivity, and other future capabilities."
Marino suspects this could be the aspect of DTV that eases the cost debate. "We are in a phase where the cost of entry is very big, and that’s going to have to change," he says. "[Soon] we will see new services brought on by digital technology-data broadcasting, interactive TV. If these [features] are attractive, [customers] may be inclined to pay more" for DTV capabilities."
"Of all the things we’ve been promised by DTV, I think that focus is what will hook the advertisers," Perry predicts. "That’s going to be an area of great exploration. We may be creating a whole new advertising medium."
