HDTV At NATPE

26-Jan-01

By Dale E. Cripps, HDTV MagazineNATPE (National Association of Television Program Executives), the huge television program marketplace - is being held this month in Las Vegas. There is more HDTV showing there than ever. Still not the mainstream, all indications suggest the world has taken notice of HDTV again. Our reporters on the floor say there is considerable relief being expressed over the modulation standards issue being settled by the NAB and FCC, and discussions and negotiations about HDTV programming are being carried on with a fresh new alacrity.While the old networks are still not out in front with HDTV as much as the consumer electronics industry would like them to be, alternative programming/signal providers are starting to pop up out of fertile ground. A news item about a sports network brewing in the teacup of dot com billionaire, Mark Cuban, is not unique. We had heard about this deal some months ago along with other hopefuls. They see that a well-educated and sophisticated audience is forming of HDTV receiver owners. Cuban, we have been told (unconfirmed) will outfit production trucks for shooting the sporting events around the nation in HDTV as well as leasing transponder time to deliver them to you from DIRECTVÆ 22,000 miles up in space. Judging from the renewed optimism over HDTV being shown at NAPTE it will not be difficult to find partners for the venture when and if he needs them.Another interesting boost to HDTV is Skytron. This company is providing the high definition viewing experience in eating areas of the nation's malls. In 22 malls already reaching 105 million annual viewers they will soon grow to 70. By the time they hit their current goal of 280 malls they will reach an astounding 140 million viewers monthly!""We are a few days away from entering a deal with a major mall developer,"" says marketing chief Bruce R. Schoenegge, ""which will give us our major DMA penetration we have to have before national advertisers will talk to us. We will wind up in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Boston, Seattle, Houston, Dallas, etc. These are the markets the national advertisers want.""A triad of screens makes up a Skytron (www.skytron.com) display system that towers above the audience. ""Three giant, digital TV screens - 28 square feet of viewing area each - stop traffic cold. Timely, shopper-friendly, infotainment programming holds them, engages them and exposes them to your important sales messages,"" touts their Web site.The president of Skytron, Dr. William J. Salesky, (happy birthday Bill) assured us this morning that quality of image is job number one, which means that millions of people will soon be exposed to very high-grade controlled demonstrations of HDTV as they gulp down a burrito. The programming for Skytron is in an information filled twenty to thirty minute family video magazine format with advertising time being offered to both national and local advertisers. The company is talking with many of the big consumer electronic manufacturers for the ""airing"" HDTV of promotional spots in their outfitted malls. We ourselves are planning to have ""HDTV Magazine Presents"" shorts produced by David Niles that can be playing on the Skytron screens by this summer. Sponsors ARE welcome!Some relevant links:http://www.natpe.org/Cuban and HDTV http://web-star.com/hdtvmagazine/articles/cuban.htmlHDTV Cinema http://web-star.com/hdtvmagazine/articles/cinema.htmlHigh Definition Surgery http://web-star.com/hdtvmagazine/articles/surgery.htmlFCC Action http://web-star.com/hdtvmagazine/articles/action.htmlSource: HDTV Magazine

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