Use of LSDI in independent production and distribution

3.3 HD content production in the broadcast environment

From a motion picture production viewpoint, many studios have embraced 1 920/1 080 HD production format. A notable high profile example is George Lucas’ “Star Ward Episode II: Attack of the Clones”. This movie and the subsequent “Episode III” were produced entirely electronically using the 1 920/1 080/24p format with no film being used.

In 2004 to March 2005, 45 motion pictures have been produced electronically, mostly employing the HD 1 920/1 080/24p format.

The titles include:

For programmes captured on film, in almost every case, the prime original film negative is transferred to a digital high-definition format on videotape, and all post-production and colour correction is effected in the digital domain, resulting in a finished master in the high-definition 1 920/1 080 format, ready for broadcast, satellite, or cable transmission.

If the programme is to be exhibited in a film projection cinema, the master is transferred back to 35 mm film for distribution.

Sports coverage is much enhanced by the application of HDTV and may become an LSDI source. As one example, CBS has been actively producing and broadcasting sports in HDTV for five years, and has covered the US Open Tennis Tournament, the Masters Golf Tournament and the NCAA final four playoffs for four years. For the last three years, CBS has covered NCAA football every Saturday, in addition to many post-season professional NFL games and Super Bowl XXXV with the AFC Divisional playoffs this year. Many major sports stadiums are now equipped with large screens, using LSDI technology.

The recent Olympic Games in Athens were recorded on HD in the 1 920/1 080 format by NBC, and distributed to 124 NBC affiliate stations in the United States of America, thus reaching 96% of all US TV households. 28 HD cameras were used to cover the Games, and 8 to 10 cameras covered each venue. One hundred and sixteen hours of HD coverage were provided, covering athletics, gymnastics, swimming, basketball, track and field, and soccer.

NBC also supplied feeds to MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Telemundo, and the United States of America cable network, reaching 80 million cable households.

SONY Electronics provided HDCAM cameras, and the events were recorded in 5.1 channels of sound. Because the Games were also recorded in standard definition, a direct comparison showed the superiority of high-definition production for all the sporting events.

The primetime entertainment programmes of the major networks are rapidly converting to HDTV distribution. For example, CBS has, for the past four years, distributed all its scripted primetime entertainment programmes in 1 920/1 080 HD, totalling 16 h/week along with selected “Movies of the Week”.

Nearly all the United States of America prime-time situation comedies for network programming are produced in the 1 920/1 080/24p HD format. The efficacy of this procedure is shown in the fact that 23 pilot programmes for the new season were produced in this HD format in just one month at the CBS facility in Los Angeles. This achievement represents 11 1/2 h of programme running time.

The major United States of America broadcast networks are producing and distributing HD programmes, totalling over 60 h/week in prime time. The cable networks are producing programmes in HD and distributing more than 100 h/day. DBS operators are transmitting multiple channels of HD, and doing so for 20 h/day. Thus, consumers have access to over 37 sources of high-definition programming, and a total of over 1 000 h/week of programming from which to choose. On the national scene, it is estimated that all delivery media together are transmitting over 2 000 h of HD programming weekly. In sum, there is a plenitude of HD programming available for potential LSDI applications.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is a major broadcast content producer and provider. The CBC produces a lot of content, i.e. sporting events, concerts, documentaries, which could lend itself to LSDI. As the CBC begins to produce in HDTV, it will consider LDSI as a potential new delivery platform for some of its content.

Table 15 presents the results obtained from a survey of all the formats used in the production of programmes for United States of America prime time television programmes for broadcast by the six United States of America television networks and by the major cable networks. At this stage only the HD 1 920/1 080 HD format and the 1 280/720p format are considered.

It is seen that, in a typical week, the programme production format employed are 1 920/1 080 for 72% of the total, 15% for 35-mm film, and 13% for the 1 280/720p format.

The format used for programme distribution was seen to be 86% for the HD 1 080 format and 14% for the 720p format in 2003.

In 2004, the trend toward the production and distribution of programme content in the 1 920/1 080 high-definition format has continued. Table 16 shows that a majority of all the terrestrial broadcasting networks, the cable networks, film studios and satellite distributors, together with independent content providers, distribute their programmes in the 1 920/1 080 HD format. Thus in March 2005, over 86% of all content for broadcast or cable distribution in the evening hours is distributed in the 1 920/1 080 HD format.