The New York Times
Page 3, Column 5
c. 1998 New York Times Company
The way the makers of television sets see it, the cable industry stands squarely in the way of the successful introduction of digital, high-definition television. Most of the major cable companies say they will not carry the digital programs that the broadcast networks plan to being offering in November. And since two-thirds of the nation's homes subscribe to cable, it is little wonder that the manufacturers are concerned.
So Thomson Multimedia, the nation's largest maker of television sets, is teaming up with DirecTV, the largest direct-broadcast satellite company, to work around the cable obstacle.
DirecTV, part of the Hughes Electronics unit of the General Motors Corporation, was one of four companies that bought minority stakes in Thomson Multimedia late last month. As part of that deal, the companies agreed to build a set-top box for use with high-definition sets.
The box will include a decoder for the DirecTV satellite signal -- as well as a tuner for over-the-air television signals, both digital and analog. The boxes should sell for about $400 and enable DirecTV subscribers with television antennas to get cable channels from DirecTV, and local television stations.
So far, direct-broadcast satellite services, which beam the same programming to the entire country, have been unable to carry local television stations, and that has been a large barrier to mass acceptance. DirecTV and Thomson Multimedia hope the hybrid box will solve some of the marketing problems.
Of course all of this may remain academic as long as high-definition televisions are selling, on average, for $8,000. JOEL BRINKLEY
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