MultiChoice tests HDTV

By Damaria Senne, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 24 Feb 2006

MultiChoice will begin experimenting with high-definition television (HDTV) some time this year.

According to Gerdus Van Eeden, MultiChoice`s CTO, the satellite TV station could begin providing HDTV by 2007. Van Eeden was participating in a panel discussion on the impact of HDTV transmission in the satellite industry at Satcom Africa 2006 in Sandton this week.

He cautioned that MultiChoice`s plans are still at an early stage. The good news is that South African producers have already switched to HD equipment, he said. The production side will quickly fall in line with the trend, making migration to HDTV easier, he noted.

Van Eeden said MultiChoice`s current decoders are not capable of carrying HDTV. However, legacy infrastructure will not be a challenge, as HDTV warrants the installation of new infrastructure, he added.

HDTV trends

The dynamics that will drive HDTV adoption in Africa will be different to those in the US and Europe, Van Eeden said.

According to Michael Antonovich, VP of global sales and marketing for PanAmSat, regulations in the US were developed to aggressively drive the adoption of HDTV by broadcasters. As a result, 98 million homes have access to HDTV and it is projected that by 2008, 49% of American homes (57 million) will have HDTV signals. By 2009, 500 channels are expected to broadcast HDTV, said Antonovich.

Van Eeden said he is unaware of South African regulations that specifically govern HDTV, and so he believes consumer demand would most likely drive adoption in SA.

He noted that HDTV adoption is likely to follow the same trend as the migration from black and white to colour TV. Prices may initially be high, but they will come down and HDTV will find stasis in the market. "There is great scope for the medium."

According to Jean Pierre Kabanda, sales director of New Skies Satellites in the UK, it is expected that SA will be an early adopter of HDTV. He says North Africa, specifically Egypt, is likely to follow as it already has content available, making migration easier. West Africa will take longer to adopt HDTV, he said.

Antonovich said early adoption in Africa will likely centre around the exhibition market, like cinemas, bars and public showings of sports events.

Events such as World Cup soccer would be one of the key drivers, he added. This will be unlike the US, where adoption is predominantly for individual home use. All panellists agreed it would likely take two years before HDTV hits the residential market.

MultiChoice is also involved in a video on demand trial in partnership with Telkom, where MultiChoice would stream selected TV content over the Web.