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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ian deSouza who wrote (28778)	1/26/1998 4:38:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

An HDTV must carry rule coming??????????????????????????? mediacentral.com TCI May Short-Change Broadcasters' High Resolution Efforts Recent announcements made by Tele-Communications Inc. indicate that the largest cable TV operator may be planning to down-convert broadcaster's future high-definition TV (HDTV) signals to a lower resolution level, according to charges made on Friday by the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA). To stop what it's calling a "tragedy to the American consumer," the group is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to revise its must-carry policy in its upcoming hearings to require cable operators to retransmit HDTV signals in their areas as HDTV signals. If CEMA's suspicions are correct, TCI's motivations presumably would be to conserve precious bandwidth on its cable plants, which would mean more room to carry cable networks. Unlike retransmitted broadcast stations, cable-originated programming generates incremental revenues for the cable operator (over and above consumers' basic subscriptions) in the form of local ad sales, pay-TV subscriptions, pay-per-view movies and events, and national ad sales to the many cable networks which TCI either owns outright or has equity in. "Manufacturers and broadcasters have committed to bringing Americans the astounding picture resolution of HDTV," explained CEMA president Gary Shapiro, while speaking to the National Association of Television Production Executives (NATPE) in New Orleans last week. "But now TCI's 14 million customers may never have the chance to see it. This is a huge tragedy for the American consumer," he added. Specifically, CEMA is concerned that TCI may reduce broadcaster transmission of 1080 interlace (1080-I) HDTV and pass it on to its subscribers in the much lower resolution 480 progressive (480-P) format. That would mean that a high definition 1080-I signal is not compatible with this system and must be down-converted to the 480-P format. Under these circumstances viewers may suffer a loss of over 80% of their spatial resolution. This, it claims, would amount to picture resolution no better than today's TV. "Any effort to label 480-P as true HDTV is an attempt to fool American consumers, who want the highest level of resolution they can get," Shapiro concluded. Of course, what CEMA really wants -- as part of the Electronics Industries Association trade group -- is to protect the nascent market for HDTV-capable TV sets, VCRs and audio components. And, if one is going to make anti-TCI statements and is not within ear shot of Washington, DC, the broadcaster-dominated NATPE convention is a good place to do it.