High-Definition TV - technological transition or new market?

Table of Contents

1/ REVIVED INTEREST IN HIGH-DEFINITION FORMAT

• HDTV: presentation
• New TV consumption standards
  • Development of DVD, Home Cinema equipment, flat screen televisions
• Digitisation and new capacities on broadcast networks
  • Digitisation of TV services around the world: number of digital TV households (terrestrial, cable, satellite) in Europe (17 countries), the United States and Japan
  • Digital compression techniques
  • TV broadcasting networks: continued digitisation of TV networks, increased network capacity, digital transition and frequencies, development release of xDSL and fibre optics
  • Impact on video distribution

2/ LEVEL OF HDTV SERVICES DEPLOYMENT AROUND THE WORLD

• The forerunners
  • The United States and Japan
    • level of HDTV services deployment
    • factors contributing to and preventing successful service deployments
  • Other countries: Australia, Canada, South Korea
• The European gap: explanations
  • Failure of the HD-MAC standard
  • HDTV in Europe in 2004

3/ HIGH-DEFINITIONS IMPACT ON THE TV VALUE CHAIN

• Content supply: production, video contribution, post production
• TV service integration or packaging: TV channels, TV packages
• Distribution: TV distribution networks, HD reception devices (HD set-top boxes, HD TV sets)
• Players roles throughout the TV value chain
  • Impact of high-definition: costs and bottlenecks
  • Viewer consumption

4/ HDTV: STAKES & CHALLENGES

• General-interest TV channels: finding the right position
  • Public and private operators: different viewpoints?
  • Defensive or proactive strategy?
  • Cost of programmes
• Cable and satellite channels: varying situations
  • Does HDTV favour any given genre/theme?
  • Editors business models
  • Service positioning strategies
• TV platform operators: distinguishing from the competition
  • Distribution networks impact on the service offering
  • The offers strategy and business models
  • Renewal of the set-top box base
• TV network operators: HDTVs "network compatibility"
  • Satellite network
  • Cable network
  • Digital terrestrial network
  • ADSL network
• High-definition production: sharing the risks
  • Programme costs and financing
  • HD master and programme variation
  • Mandatory investments?
  • Role of the professional equipment leaders: Thomson, Sony
• New forms of video content distribution
  • Physical HD platforms: cassettes, computer discs, high-definition DVD (HD DVD, Blu-ray, EVD, the role of Microsofts Windows Media 9)
  • Role of the personal computer
  • "New" TV services: personal video recorders (PVR), PPV, VoD
• CPE manufacturers key role
  • New generation set-top boxes: STB +PVR, MPEG-4
  • HD TV sets: mass production, dropping prices

5/ HDTVS DEPLOYMENT PROSPECTS IN EUROPE

• Lessons learned from pioneer HD service launches around the world
• HDTV: more an evolution than a revolution?
• Market forecasts for Europe up to 2008