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Discovery, Imax, Sony Form 3D Television Channel

By BRIAN STELTER

Discovery, Imax and Sony are forming a joint venture for a 3D television channel, two people with knowledge of the deal said Tuesday.

The joint venture will be announced sometime Tuesday, timed to the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where 3D television is expected to be a hot topic.

The three companies will own equal stakes in the channel, according to one of the people with knowledge of the deal, who requested anonymity because the channel had not been announced.

Discovery Communications, which operates the Discovery Channel, TLC and other cable channels, will distribute the channel, which has a 2011 start date. It is expected to showcase a mix of 3D content, including entertainment and sports. It will also show some of the natural history programming that Discovery is well known for.

Earlier Tuesday, ESPN announced that it would debut ESPN 3D in June 2010. The channel will show a minimum of 85 live 3D events during the first year. USA Today reported that ESPN is committing to the 3D network through June 2011.

The ESPN network will only operate when live events are happening. The Discovery/Imax/Sony venture will be a full 24-hour channel.

Companies like Discovery, Imax, Sony, and The Walt Disney Company, which controls ESPN, are trying to place themselves at the forefront of an emerging technology, much as media companies did in the HDTV arms race. 3D televisions may not be mainstream for many years, but every TV manufacturer is putting on a 3D push, Jason Oxman, a spokesman for the Consumer Electronics Association, told the BBC.

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.co...ision-channel/

Discovery, Sony, IMAX Detail 3D Plans

Will serve as equal partners in 24-hour network set for 2011 launch

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/5/2010 10:47:39 AM

Discovery Communications, Sony Corporation and IMAX Corporation formally announced Jan. 5 that they are forming a joint venture to create a 24-hour 3D television network in the U.S. to supply programming for new 3D HD sets. However, they didn't provide any details on carriage with pay-TV operators or the technical infrastructure behind the service.

The partnership aims to launch in the U.S. in 2011 with a mix of 3D-friendly content, including natural history, space, exploration, adventure, engineering, science and technology, motion pictures and children's programming from Discovery, Sony Pictures Entertainment, IMAX and other third-party providers. It will also explore international distribution opportunities in the future.

The companies have signed a non-binding letter of intent to form the JV, and have not released financial details of the agreement. Discovery, Sony, through its U.S. affiliate, Sony Corporation of America, and IMAX each will be equal partners. Governance for the joint venture will be handled by a board of directors comprised of members from each of the three companies, with the day-to-day operations run by a separate staff and management team reporting to that board. The JV has already begun searching for a general manager to run the venture's general manager will begin immediately.

"Discovery's business strategy has always focused on delivering groundbreaking content through new platforms, including the first suite of digital channels launched in 1996 and the first 24/7 basic cable HD channel in 2002," said Discovery Founder and Chairman John Hendricks in a statement. "Now, as Discovery celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2010 as the world leader in satisfying curiosity and bringing audiences the most realistic viewing experience, we continue to change the face of television with the launch of the first-ever 24/7 dedicated 3D television network."

Discovery will provide network services, including affiliate sales and technical support functions, as well as 3D television rights to Discovery content and cross-promotion across its portfolio of 13 U.S. television networks. Sony will provide advertising/sponsorship sales support, and seek to license TV rights to current and future 3D feature films, music-related 3D content and game-related 3D content, while providing cross-promotion at retail stores. IMAX also will license television rights to future 3D films, offer promotion through its owned-and-operated movie theaters across the U.S., and provide a suite of proprietary and patented image enhancement and 3D technologies.

Discovery's involvement in the 3D venture is not surprising, as Discovery executives have privately mentioned their interest in 3D for months and have already considered which shows would work in 3D and which ones wouldn't. For example, Deadliest Catch was referred to by several executives as a show that wouldn't work, as it would likely make viewers seasick. As discussed in the Dec. 30 Broadcasting & Cable TechTalk (click here to listen), Chief Media Technology Officer John Honeycutt and other Discovery engineers have been evaluating "dimensionalization" technology from several firms as a potential way to convert 2D archive content to 3D in post-production, which would be more cost-effective than shooting new 3D fare with specialized cameras.

Sony and IMAX have already collaborated on 3D movies in theaters for years, and are natural technical partners for the venture. While Sony is obviously making a big push on the 3D display side, following its efforts in digital cinema projectors with a new line of consumer 3D HD displays, it is also heavily involved in 3D HD production technology.

Much of the 3D HD content shot in recent years has been done with specialized rigs that incorporate Sony HDC-1500 cameras, including the James Cameron movie Avatar and live broadcasts of college football games produced last year by Fox and ESPN. Sony is also expected to have a role in ESPN's new 3D channel that was announced today, as it has already formed a partnership with FIFA to produce a number of 2010 World Cup matches in 3D.

"Sony is the only company with expertise in every part of the 3D value chain," said Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman, CEO and President of Sony Corporation, in a statement. "We are delighted to be partnering with Discovery and IMAX, two premier companies also dedicated to leadership in 3D, in this groundbreaking new venture. It is clear to us that consumers will always migrate to a better and richer entertainment experience, and together we are determined to be the leader in providing that around the world."

Who will carry the new 24-hour 3D channel remains to be seen. But the launch of a new DirecTV satellite last week has fueled speculation that DirecTV will launch a 3D HD service next year, something 3D insiders have suggested privately for months. The blog HDGuru.com reported that DirecTV will use the new DirecTV 12 satellite to start an all-3D HD channel offering an assortment of movies, sports and programs in 3D, and that it will announce the new service at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week.

According to the report, which cited unnamed sources, DirecTV's current HDTV boxes will receive a firmware upgrade to allow existing subscribers to receive HD 3D programming that will be compatible with new 3D-capable HDTV sets from Panasonic, Sony, Samsung, LG and other TV makers, as well as existing Mitsubishi DLP sets that would require a 3D converter box. All the sets would require DirecTV subscribers to wear special glasses to view the 3D content.

DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer wouldn't comment on the HDGuru.com story. But in an email message, Mercer did allow that "3D is something we are very interested in and we're looking at all of the various pieces of the puzzle that need to be put together."

While 3D has created buzz in movie theaters, delivering it to the living room remains a challenge for multichannel operators. DirecTV is seen as the most likely U.S. pay-TV operator to launch a 3D service because it enjoys a national footprint, it has already deployed bandwidth-efficient MPEG-4 set-tops with powerful processing chips, and moreover, it has already established the precedent of selling expensive subscription packages like "NFL Sunday Ticket" to sports aficionados. Nascent 3D fare could be marketed in a similar fashion.

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/art...l_3D_Plans.php

Discovery's Zaslav Aims For Broad Distribution Of 3D Network

Network Scheduled to Launch in 2011 Via Partnership With Sony, IMAX

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 1/5/2010 5:50:28 PM

Discovery Communications CEO David Zaslav said he's hoping to get broad distribution for the linear 3D network that the company expects to launch in 2011 with Sony and IMAX, noting that it won't require significantly more bandwidth than existing HD services.

"We will, beginning tomorrow, be talking to the distributors," Zaslav said on a conference call with reporters Tuesday. "We believe we'll have very good and productive discussions.... We see it as a channel that will be broadly available. The as-yet-unnamed Discovery/Sony/IMAX 3D network will feature programming from genres that the companies said will lend themselves to 3D, including movies, natural history, space, exploration, adventure, engineering, science and technology and children's programming.

"It will be a general entertainment channel," Zaslav said. "We've had a lot of discussions with the distributors in general about 3D. There are a lot of questions, and a lot of excitement.... We expect that it will be very well received."

Distributors will be able to carry a 3D channel in about the same amount of the bandwidth they use for an HD signal, Zaslav said.

According to CableLabs, many of the digital set-top boxes currently deployed by cable operators are capable of processing 3DTV signals in a "frame-compatible" format, which carries separate left and right video signals within the video frame used to convey a conventional, 2D high-definition signal by squeezing them to fit within the space of one picture.

Discovery, Sony and IMAX will each have a 33% stake in the venture. Discovery will provide network services -- including affiliate sales and technical support -- as well as 3D television rights to Discovery content and cross-promotion across its portfolio of 13 U.S. television networks. Sony and IMAX will contribute movies and other content, with Sony providing additional advertising and sponsorship sales support and marketing across the U.S., and IMAX contributing a suite of proprietary and patented image enhancement and 3D technologies.

Separately Tuesday, ESPN announced plans to debut a 3D service in June 2010, timed for the World Cup, which will feature at least 85 live events in the first year.

Discovery launched one of the first HD networks in 2002, HD Theater, and executives said questions about how quickly and widely 3DTV will be adopted by consumers are similar to those asked about the first HD channels.

The company estimates that about 5 million households are "early adopters," which will purchase a 3DTV set within the next 24-36 months, with another approximately 24 million affluent households that will subsequently adopt the technology, Discovery founder and chairman John Hendricks said.

"I'm convinced that 5 to 10 years from now we'll see the mass rollout of this," he said. "We see 3D television as that next step along the way to providing consumers closer-to-reality experience."

The Consumer Electronics Association estimates that nearly 2.2 million 3DTVs will be sold in 2010 and that by 2013 more than 25% of all televisions sold will be 3DTVs.

IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond said his company has proprietary technology to convert 2D into 3D: "There will be a lot of things we will do there."

To illustrate consumer appetite for 3D, Gelfond claimed that IMAX-affiliated theaters -- which are currently showing Avatar in 3D -- represented 25% of the box office in the U.S. last weekend with just 2% of the screens. "That gives you a sense of the power of 3D," he said. Other recent 3D IMAX films include Disney's A Christmas Carol and Alice in Wonderland, Under the Sea 3D and Sony's Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. The Discovery programming has yet to be determined, but the Discovery Channel has previously featured a 3-D broadcast of its Shark Week franchise. Zaslav said the partners have initiated a search for a CEO to launch the network.

The Discovery/Sony/IMAX network doesn't have a name, but it definitely won't be called "Discovery 3D," according to Zaslav. He said the three companies will be working "to come up with a name we think consumers will respond to."

http://www.multichannel.com/article/...3D_Network.php