January 2010 was a landmark month for 3-D TV, as ESPN, DirecTV and Discovery made significant announcements at the Consumer Electronics show regarding 3-D TV content and channels. DirecTV aimed to be one of the first satellite pay-TV platforms to have a solid 3-D offering. ESPN signaled its intention to become a leader in providing sports coverage in 3-D. Discovery Networks also was quick out of the blocks with their own initiative. 3net, a joint-venture channel from Discovery, Sony and Imax, was created with a mission to become one of the early leaders in 3-D content delivery to households in the United States.
A year and a half later, the initial optimism surrounding 3-D TV has now given way to more circumspect forecasts about future take-up. U.K. research company Ovum was particularly downbeat in a forecast earlier this year saying “there is a clear lack of enthusiasm for 3-D TV in the broadcast industry.”
Despite this forecast, many DTH providers have been quick to launch 3-D TV services, with DirecTV and BSkyB showing a clear appetite. While 3-D TV may polarize opinions among broadcasting executives, many still believe this is an exciting new medium for broadcast consumers.
One man who is confident that 3-D TV has a big future is Tom Cosgrove, president and CEO of 3net. Here, he explains why he is still a believer in 3-D TV, and how he aims to make 3net a force on the 3-D TV landscape.
VIA SATELLITE: What would you say have been the key 3-D lessons to learn so far?
Cosgrove: There are a couple of things. 3-D TV is more challenging than it seems, but when thought of in the right way, it is a fairly straightforward way of creating television. There is definitely a learning curve when you get into this business, and there are many things you have to figure out initially. There is a technology part, which plays an important role with 3-D television that you really have to grasp and understand in order to use as an effective creative tool. Once you get through it, you realize what the key demands are and what you need to understand. It really then just gets back to making quality television that incorporates 3-D TV as a creative medium. But yes, I think there is definitely a learning curve. Also, there are costs involved with 3-D TV that are above and beyond HD. It is still a more expensive way to make television. But every day we see new technologies coming out and more efficiencies. One of the key challenges is to stay on top of the advances in the marketplace — new tools that provide more creative and efficient ways we can approach both production and post-production in making 3-D TV.
The other challenge is to make sure people really understand 3-D TV. There are some mis-conceptions around in the marketplace. But, they are starting to fade away. As one of the early 3-D TV channels, we are intrinsically linked to people buying a 3-D TV set. Getting through some mis-conceptions has been important. For example, when you buy a 3-D TV, you are also getting one of the best (2D) HD TV sets on the market. There was confusion in the market place about that. There was also confusion in terms of what was available in the market place. We are seeing that change. People are understanding what 3-D TV means, and that is part of the learning curve generally for any new technology.
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