DTH Technology Executives Say “Jury is Out” on 3-D TV

If 2010 was the year that saw 3-D TV start to enter the mainstream consciousness, 2011 is the year where DTH operators started to make good on their strategies in this area. Some DTH operators, however, have not been rushing headlong into 3-D TV despite the blitz of publicity over the last year. 
   Dish Network (United States) is one of the largest pay-TV operators globally and has around 14 million subscribers. You would think with its marketing position it would be one of the first to move to 3-D TV, but not so. Vivek Khemka, vice president of Consumer Technology, Dish Network, admits the operator has been “a little slow to jump into the 3-D TV space, and at this stage does not feel the need to change.” He says, “We are one of the few operators, at least in the United States, that did not really jump on the 3-D TV bandwagon as much as our competitors. The only 3-D TV offering we have today is a couple of on-demand 3-D TV movies every month. We haven’t really launched a 3-D TV linear channel or ESPN or Discovery. I would say the primary reason is that we don’t see too much consumer pull for it. Secondly, it is still not an ideal experience. I think once we have passive 3-D TVs, that will be the inflection point where consumers decide they are going to watch more in 3-D. Until that really happens, I am not sure we really want to promote it, and neither do we see customers asking for it.”
   Khemka says the operator could look to launch a couple of 3-D linear TV channels later this year, but there is a clear lack of enthusiasm towards 3-D TV here, and Khemka does not sound convinced that the market will take off at all. “We do see that consumer electronics manufacturers such as LG are launching passive model 3-D TVs in the market place. I have also seen prototypes from other manufacturers which makes the experience a lot better. That will truly be the inflection point for 3-D TV to take off. We will start preparing in the third and fourth quarter this year. But, I don’t see the market takes off until the middle of next year, if it does,” he says. 
   Others also share this view. OSN is the largest DTH operator in the Middle East, and Mark Billinge, vice president, Broadcast Operations and Technology, OSN, says that the jury is “still out on 3-D TV.” It may not even be the key buzzword at IBC this year. “The latest feature seems to be about ‘Connected TV’ and 3-D TV as a feature is something that has dropped slightly down the list. So, but this all means the 3-D TV population is growing. It is important we offer the service, and we do. We launched the service late last year on our Push VoD.  We launched the service so you can access 3-D TV content on the PVR. For me, whether it is a key driver for subscription numbers, we will have to wait and see how big an impact it has. But, it is a value-added service. As the leading broadcaster in the region, it is something that we have to offer, but I am not convinced it is going to be a key driver in the future,” Billinge says.
   Some companies are much more optimistic. MNC Sky Vision is Indonesia’s largest DTH operator, and has around one million subscribers. It sees 3-D TV, rather than HD TV, as better growth driver going forward. “We are rather conservative towards the exploitation of HD, even though we are moving towards the deployment of an HD box. 3-D TV offers a different viewing experience. I am confident it will gain positive reaction in Asia. The issues around 3-D TV are really around standardization. Content in 3-D is still relatively sparse right now. The more 3-D content is available, the more we look to exploit it,” says Handhi Kentjono, vice president, MNC Sky Vision.
  In another of Asia’s major markets, India, which is seeing explosive take-up of DTH services, the question is when we will start to see 3-D TV. DTH operators such as Tata Sky and Dish TV have only in the last year launched HD TV services and are busy ramping up the number of channels they offer here. “The question remains how many households are able to access 3-D TV right now. So, the question is if it is the right time. People are still getting used to SD pay-TV services. Over the last 12 months, there is now a little of bit of experience with HD services. It is too fast to get into 3-D TV, because there are not that many out there. We need to establish HD more first,” says Rajiv Khattar, president of Projects, Dish TV (India).
   In Russia, one of the Europe’s biggest markets for pay-TV, NTV Plus is trying to establish itself as a pay-TV leader. The company has already launched a 24/7 3-D TV channel as part of a partnership with Panasonic. Oleg Kolesnikov, technical director, NTV Plus, says there has been “interest” from its customers for the service. He adds, “On the one hand it is more of a toy, than a real tool for gaining customers, but from the other it is a new technology challenge, showing us and our customers new way of content consumption. But, for the geeks, and for regular customers it is something new to explore. Moreover, we are not charging for these services yet.”
   The operator is looking to step up its plans here, however. Producing its own content could be the next step. “We are only showing content that was originally shot and produced in 3-D, so movies, animations, sports, etc. We are not in a position to fool our customers. We are not producing our own 3-D TV content yet. We are getting ready with our set-up. It is in the lab environment. We are getting some stuff from Panasonic such as cameras, switchers, monitors and so forth. We are getting in a position to start some live productions in 3-D TV. It will be mostly sports, as we own the rights to Russian Premier League football, so as soon as we ready in terms of production, we will do it,” Kolesnikov adds. 
   While DTH operators such as Dish Network may be still questioning the merits of 3-D TV, some broadcasters are already big believers. 3net, a JV channel from Discovery, Sony and IMAX, hopes to be a pioneer in the delivery of 3-D TV content and its CEO Tom Cosgrove is predicting a bright future for 3-D TV.  
   “The amount of content available is still on its way up. We will continue to grow, and others will begin to offer content, and at the end of the day, content is going to motivate people. If they don’t have anything to watch, there is only going to be so much interest in 3-D TV. But, I think this year, we are really starting to see that change. Between what we are doing and what we are seeing with platforms beyond television, this will help broaden 3-D TV,” he says. “There will be handheld devices. You have still and video cameras coming out able to shoot 3-D, so that will create interest in user-generated content. So, you will see a lot more things go on YouTube and services like that. All of those things will help develop the 3-D TV platform broadly. I think we are starting to see that convergence in the market place where the content and the hardware are really starting to come together, where as they haven’t before.”