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Technology Stocks : Zenith - One and Only -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tim McCormick who wrote (3547)	12/5/1997 5:29:00 AM
From: Robert Utne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6570

Andy, Larry, Bill and Compaq aren't the ones to watch. They're very late to the HDTV table and are bringing only self-serve. The two key individuals who will drive HDTV are Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch. CBS and PBS are in there, too. Both Ted and Rupert fully inderstand that sports will be the HDTV "killer product" with movies coming close. Check out this weeks "The New Yorker" for a good clue of where Rupert is going. Ted won't let Rupert get the whole ball of wax and certainly CBS, Disney (ABC and ESPN) have very strong sport venues, too. Rupert is a very big thinker with a very keen mind and has some excellent insights as to where all this (digital CE revolution) is leading to. Ruperts thinking (via News Coporation's execs): "The two things that drive them (News Corporation's worldwide operations) are movies and sports. And sports is the most important...as the entertainment future offers a dizzying array of choices, sports and especially big events will have a uniquely powerful appeal, because in an increasingly fragmented society, sports is tribal, serving as a community bond, and is live. Sports is the the final frontier of reality on TV because it's unscripted and the white knight doesn't always get to kiss the girl." Ted Turner could have said the same but, certainly, would be more enthusiastic about the movie side of the "tribalness" equation. Interesting to note that both of these "chiefs" are "best of breed" partners with Zenith. Zenith's STBs, digital cable modems and HDTVs are essential to the success of both Murdoch's and Ted's game plans. Also very interesting to watch LGE's advertisng focus. Most notably, they are the official world sponsor of consumer electronics at the World Cup (the planet's "Superbowl") to be held outide of Paris next year. LGE gets it, too. Andy, Larry and Bill know the score very well and keep coming up with new schemes to get into our living rooms and to kill the HDTV model. Trouble is the broadcasters aren't stupid enough to let these foxes take over their advertising bases and audience shares nor are consumers willing to turn their TVs into computers. Give me a break Andy, with your scheme I'd need a minimum 20 Gbps hard drive to record one movie! Thank you Andy but I'll just stick with a $100-$300 VHS or wait a little for the recordable DVD/Divx. Larry and Bill have their own self-serving agendas for our living rooms. Both want to control the front end (turn your TV on and there is MSN/WEbTV to greet you and steer you around) and the system where they want us to perform all our financial transactions. Divx could throw them for a loop on this one, too. Intel will win either way. Wherever chips are needed, Intel will be.