Got a high definition television on your Christmas list? Or are you waiting for Hockey Night in Canada to be broadcast in HD before taking the plunge?
That dilemma essentially sums up the current state of affairs with high definition television in Canada — a “chicken and egg” situation where consumers are hesitating to invest in expensive equipment until there is more programming, and producers are slow in shifting to the new technology until there is a critical mass of receivers in place.
But there has been considerable movement on both sides of that equation in recent months, partly driven by the fact that the United States is moving full-steam ahead on its shift to the digital high-definition universe.
This Christmas will likely see a record number of HD-compatible television sets sold in Canada, more and more HD channels are being offered and there is an increasing amount of programming available. And that's going to accelerate in the next few years, experts say.
About 1.2 million HD-compatible TVs are in Canadian homes now (although only about 180,000 are actually used to receive HD programming), according to Convergence Consulting Group Ltd.
The number of HD sets will grow to 3.1 million by 2006, and those receiving HD signals will increase four-fold by then, the research firm predicts.
“What we're going to see in the next two years in Canada is a critical mass of HD sets being hooked up to the Canadian broadcast system, and therefore a critical mass of viewers that starts to make a business difference,” said Peter Miller, head of regulatory affairs at CHUM Ltd., whose CITY TV station in Toronto was the first in Canada to broadcast in HD over the airwaves.
What's driving the shift to HD, besides the fabulous picture and sound that many people say takes the television-watching experience to a new level, is the fact that the United States has made a huge commitment to move to the new technology.
The Federal Communications Commission has been pushing the transition to HD, and the networks have signed on with a major shift to producing many of their prime time shows in the new technology.
In Canada, the CRTC has been content to allow what it calls a “market driven transition,” allowing programmers and carriers to shift as they see fit.
CRTC chairman Charles Dalfen expressed some misgivings about the progress of change in a recent speech, when he said he was concerned about the HD gap between Canada and the United States.
Mr. Dalfen said there needs to be more Canadian HD production and he encouraged the industry to “speed up the transition to digital and to HD, so that Canadian broadcasters will continue to be vigorous competitors for television viewers.”
Still, says Michael McEwen, the head of Canadian Digital Television, an industry sponsored body set up to promote the move to HD, “Canada's strategy was always to lag behind the U.S. by a couple of years.”
The idea was to wait for the United States to settle on transmission standards and to watch as the prices fell for production, transmission and receiving equipment. However, with the United States moving ahead and the gap widening, it's time for Canada to catch up, Mr. McEwen said.
Mr. Miller, of CHUM, said that from the broadcasters' perspective, there is “a concern that if we don't go to HD and the U.S. [channels] go HD, we'll start to lose viewers to the U.S. services.”
There are a number of reasons why the shift to HD has progressed slowly in Canada, and why we may be now at a tipping point that will accelerate growth:
-- The cost for consumers
