Has HDTV's defining moment finally arrived?
By Mike Snider, USA TODAY
In their battle to convert customers to HDTV, cable and satellite systems are hoping CNN's Anderson Cooper, the Food Network's Giada De Laurentiis and HGTV's Joan Steffend can lend a hand.
Popular channels such as CNN and History are adding high-definition counterparts at the same time cable and satellite systems are expanding to add popular channels already available in HD.
MORE: Are viewers HD-ready?
"I have said for a long time that HDTV won't become mainstream until certain mainstream networks become high-definition networks not just the major (broadcast) ones but also CNN, USA, Bravo, Weather Channel and the Cartoon Network," says Phil Swann, president and publisher of TVPredictions.com, which tracks HD news.
"If you can think of a popular basic cable channel, the odds are pretty good it is going to be in HD by the end of the year. That is what will really drive this home and make this truly mainstream."
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Networks such as HBO, Showtime, ESPN, Discovery and TNT have been available in high definition on cable and satellite for some time. As the number of HD-capable homes grows, more networks are upgrading cameras, production equipment and sets.
Plummeting prices of HD-ready sets have driven the adoption rate of the format to 30% of U.S. homes as of mid-April, up from 26% at the end of 2006, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey says the growth has been "dramatic and much faster than we originally forecast."
Last week, the Digital Entertainment Group projected by year's end, more than 52 million homes, or about 36% of all U.S. homes, could have HDTVs, with about 20% having more than one.
But at least half of HDTV owners don't have high-definition content flowing to their sets, says Jason Oxman of the Consumer Electronics Association. "Content providers have a $5 billion market opportunity this year alone," he says.
Among highlights:
CNN will launch an HD channel this fall and broadcast a two-part documentary, CNN Presents: Planet in Peril, Oct. 23 and 24, hosted by Cooper. CNN HD will be carried on DirecTV; negotiations continue with other providers.
Food Network in HD, already carried on Dish and some cable systems, is converting studios to add Rachael Ray's 30 Minute Meals and Emeril! Live. Already on: Paula's Home Cooking, Barefoot Contessa, Everyday Italian, Throwdown With Bobby Flay and Unwrapped.
A&E, which launched HD last September, will roll out History HD Sept. 1 on DirecTV, Dish and some cable systems. A&E, as well as Food, HGTV and National Geographic, have been recent additions to cable systems.
In September, DirecTV will begin adding "a flood of HD channels," says DirecTV's Derek Chang. In what it calls "the year of HD," the service plans to have up to 100 national channels by year's end, Chang says.
