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3D TV Networks soon a reality
By siliconindia
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Wednesday, 06 January 2010, 21:51 IST
Los Angeles: Discovery Communications and ESPN have unveiled a plan to launch 3-D television networks. Earlier ESPN had announced that it will broadcast the Football World Cup in 3D. ESPN will roll out its 3-D network in June and will air a minimum of 85 live sporting events during its first year, according to Reuters.
Along with up to 25 World Cup matches, ESPN said 3-D would be featured in broadcasts of the Summer X Games extreme sports, college basketball and college football, including the BCS National Championship game in Glendale, Arizona, on January 10, 2011.
Discovery has said it has joined ranks with Sony and IMAX to launch a dedicated 3-D network in the United States beginning in 2011. The network will feature natural history, space, exploration, and adventure shows along with films and children's programming from all three partners. Third parties may also provide entertainment.
After the success of 3D movie Avatar, many have started to believe that 3D can make a huge impact on home entertainment. "This will be a meaningful step to drive adoption of 3-D television sets and afford opportunities for our affiliates to create value through new product offerings, and our advertisers, who want fresh sponsorship opportunities," Sean Bratches, ESPN's executive vice president of sales and marketing, said in a statement.
But who would like to wear glasses and watch TV. Also, lack of 3-D programming has been the key barrier to adaptation of 3D TV. "The bottleneck has been content. What you are seeing is a feeding frenzy suddenly emerging for in-home 3-D, which is a step in the right direction," said Piper Jaffray analyst James Marsh.
Price also will be an issue for consumers who may have just recently upgraded their living rooms. Richard Doherty, analyst with Envisioneering Group, believes one household in 30 may embrace 3-D in-home technology by New Year's 2011, and up to 20 percent by 2015. "There's quite an effort among standards groups, broadcasters, cable and satellite operators and consumer electronics companies to get 3-D in the home quickly," he said.
