HDTV: Hot or Not?
BusinessWeek's story about how billionaire Mark Cuban wants to jump-start interest in high-definition by hiring Dan Rather to host a one-hour news show is yet another sign the technology is starting to gain more momentum. The question is when will the market catch up with the buzz? For anyone who watched the recent World Cup in HD, there is little doubt the super-crisp picture quality makes watching TV that much better. And with more consumers snapping up large-screen TVs that can take advantage of HD, the market is slowly but surely being seeded. That said, the success of HD will hinge a few key issues: content will be extremely important because consumers need to seen a return on their investment. Following close behind will be how HD is priced by satellite, cable and IP-TV service providers. If the “privilege” of watching HD is too expensive, consumers may balk about jumping into the market even those the experience is compelling - much like they have taken their time to get excited about all those digital specialty channels. Cuban, who owns the HDNet television network and has made a big-time commitment to the technology, believes it's only a matter of time before HD hits the mainstream.
July 15th, 2006 at 10:24 am
Does he really think the thing that will drive HD adoption is people looking for a better picture of Dan Rather?
July 15th, 2006 at 8:03 pm
Agreed. I don't know anyone who wants to watch Rather on HD. He would do better to hire one of those news chicks on Telemundo.
July 15th, 2006 at 10:00 pm
The real challenge will not be viewing Dan Rather himself in HD but rather getting news content that is recrorded in HD. My experience is that, while some sports channels (i.e. Rogers Sportsnet and, come Septermber, TSN) do HD sportscasts, most of their actual game or event content is still in standard def so you have the picture jumping between HD and SD throughout the sportscast — lots of black bars down the side.
I have yet to see any newscast in HD; I guess Rather on HDNet will be the first in the US. I would suspect that CTV will be the first in Canada for newscasts, given they seem to have the most prime time entertainment content in HD — but not any time soon.
On the other hand, Letterman now comes in HD; other than provide much crisper video, it has done nothing for his jokes and skits.