VIA SATELLITE: What is the timeline for launching the MPEG4 platform?
Pagano: We already have launched MPEG4 for 2-D HD on all of our networks. We are still awaiting the coordination issues of when we will launch it on satellite in 3-D TV. Those plans have not been delineated yet.
VIA SATELLITE: What technology vendors are you working with on the MPEG4 platform?
Pagano: We are working with Motorola. We are in the midst of rolling this solution out with all 2-D and HD products.
VIA SATELLITE: Did you have any expectations of how fast or slow the adoption of 3-D TV would be? If so, were your expectations in-line with what has actually happened in the mass market?
Pagano: I did not go in with a quantified model of expectation in terms of what the growth pattern might be. I always thought this was going to be a developing medium for people to get their arms around 3-D because this was such a different experience. As I said, the CEA said they sold 1.1 million sets last year and are forecasting almost two million this year. I don’t think that is a bad growth rate for something that is still getting its arms around the consumer, especially during this economic climate where people are watching their spending habits. I am actually comfortable with the growth patterns we are seeing today. I still think this is part of an experiment of a magnitude that it will be delivering more stuff as a function of time. 3-D is not going away; it is going to get better every day. You will start to see direct viewable 3-D TV sets in the future. We don’t know when that is going to be, but it will happen. We did some research at the end of 2010 and the results in terms of enjoyment of 3-D TV have gone from 65 percent to 70 percent; our presence went from 35 percent to more than 50 percent. It is just a little bit of a relationship building exercise, and us getting our arms around the things they want to see in a 3-D TV space. By no means am I disappointed with it, and I don’t see the horsepower or wind being taken out of its sails.
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