Satellites’ Blu-ray Clarity Claims May Be Dubious

[PaulGo]

Satellites’ Blu-ray Clarity Claims May Be Dubious

By Danny King

U.S. satellite companies’ statements that their so-called “full” high-definition broadcasts are as clear as Blu-ray may be murky, according to at least one analyst, who says Blu-ray growth won’t be hindered by such claims.

As HD disc and disc-player sales gradually pick up in the months since Sony’s Blu-ray emerged as the victor over Toshiba’s competing HD DVD format, leading satellite companies DirecTV and Dish Network have expanded their linear HD channel inventory well past the 100-channel mark. More recently, the satcasters have announced upcoming 1080-pixel broadcasts.

Last month, Dish said it would be the first in the industry to offer full-HD programming and that this month it would offer the Will Smith-starring “I Am Legend” on video-on-demand in 1080p resolution, “same as Blu-ray disc quality.” Larger competitor DirecTV also said in July that it would offer 1080p resolution “later this year,” calling it “the same format used by Blu-ray HD DVDs.”

Not so fast, says David Mercer, U.K.-based principal analyst at consultant Strategy Analytics, in a report this week.

“I don’t believe that DirecTV or Dish will actually be offering programming at the same level of quality of [Blu-ray Disc],” Mercer wrote on his blog this week, adding that the Blu-ray Disc Association called the satcasters’ statements “irresponsible” and “misleading.” “The 1080p story is just another phase in that competitive battle, but it is unlikely to seriously affect Blu-ray’s potential.”

Indeed, the second quarter produced mixed results for satellite companies trying to boost customers with their HD service. DirecTV earlier this month said it increased its subscriber base by 129,000 during the quarter while Dish lost 25,000 subscribers, marking the first quarterly subscriber drop ever for a U.S. satellite television company.

Meanwhile, U.S. Blu-ray disc spending for the first half of the year jumped fourfold to about $200 million and will overtake standard DVDs as the primary form of content software within the next four years, U.K.-based consultant Futuresource said last week.

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/08/s...arity_clai.php