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Nets gear up for HDTV
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April 2, 1998: 6:00 p.m. ET
TV images are getting clearer, but how they'll be broadcast is still blurry
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The big TV networks are gearing up for the launch of high-definition television, but so far they're not quite headed in the same direction.
With the federal government mandating that broadcasters switch over to digital technology by 2006 -- which will lead to more channels and higher-quality pictures for viewers -- the networks are lining up to tap in.
But the Federal Communications Commission didn't set a universal standard for HDTV, and as a result the picture for the new technology is decidedly unclear.
"It's like telling Detroit to start making five-wheeled cars," said one network spokesman.
This fall, nearly 16 years and some $8 billion of investment after the birth of HDTV, the big networks will air programming for those who are lured enough by the technology to pay about $2,000 for an HDTV set.
But, during that introductory phase, and possibly for years to come, three separate standards for HDTV will exist at the four big networks -- ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC.
It is an epochal transformation at big webs, and eventually, perhaps, to cable networks, as they jockey for position in what is poised to become a multi-billion dollar market.
On Thursday, Walt Disney Co.'s ABC unveiled a deal with Panasonic by which the Japanese electronics maker will build an HDTV facility in New York City to be up and running by November this year. Analysts say the deal is worth about $8-$9 million.
Panasonic, an affiliate of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., also will offer special discounts to ABC affiliates so they too can hop aboard the new format.
But ABC has taken an alternate route for its HDTV. As many as 18 different standards for the technology exist, based on the number of lines in the resolution of the picture.
The average television today offers up to 480 lines of resolution, but most hover around 340 lines during normal transmission. The finest of upcoming HDTV standards can at least triple that level of picture quality.
But ABC has chosen a less-publicized standard called the 720 Progressive format, which the network claims is better quality even though it won't be the best resolution available.
One advantage of the 720P format is that, unlike the rival 1080i standard, it will be able to transmit through next-generation computers that can receive HDTV signals.
Meanwhile, CBS Corp. said Thursday it will begin broadcasting five hours of HDTV programming each week in November. CBS, like NBC, has opted for the higher-profile 1080i standard.
A CBS spokesman said the network hasn't decided what shows will be offered under the 1080i format.
Fox Television, for its part, has said it will line up behind a 480-line standard.
To consumers, it won't mean much, said Dale Cripps, who publishes the HDTV Newsletter, because decoders alongside HDTV sets will be able to read any standard.
Cripps said it's a "religious argument" about which standard is better, but he acknowledges that the stakes are high because networks may face high costs to get HDTV rolling, and they don't have any clear signs consumers will tune in en masse.
But for the moment, industry watchers say, the 1080i standard has a leg up on competitors by virtue of its reputation.
"We believe 1080i will be the standard that most broadcasters accept," said Rick Clancy, a spokesman for Sony Corp., which is also at the forefront of the development of HDTV in the U.S. "We're not expecting a lot of interest in 720."
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