Bringing the War Home

Broadcasting & Cable interviewed Richard Engel and Nic Robertson on bringing back the news from a war zone in their 9/20 issue.

Robertson, who joined CNN as an engineer in 1990, has seen the size of portable uplinks go from several hundred pounds down to the size of two briefcases. Engel, whose first overseas assignment was as a print reporter in Cairo in 1996, comments on how the now ubiquitous cell phone has improved access to sources, pictures and even video.

From 3D Summit: “Scr-w You!”

UPDATE: It looks like I may be wrong about this. Please read the comment.

An interesting dispatch from Variety‘s annual 3D Summit (courtesy of the AP): If you were counting on viewing this year’s 3D Hollywood movie titles on your brand new 3D set any time soon, you may be disappointed. Because of studio / 3DTV manufacturer bundling deals, only three features and three documentaries will be on the shelves and playable on any 3D Blu-ray /3DTV combo.

For example, a Sony 3-DTV buyer won’t be able to watch DreamWorks “How To Train Your Dragon” because that movie will be tied to the purchase of a set from Samsung Electronics Co. And Disney said that its 3-D movies “Alice in Wonderland” and “Bolt” would be available exclusively to people who buy certain sets from Sony Corp.

I’d like to how they are doing this… (HDMI handshaking perhaps?) In any case, I hope that these exclusivity deals end soon, or there will be lots of 3D Blu-ray returns after Christmas!

Obits: NBC’s Edwin Newman

Longtime NBC newsman Edwin Newman died on September 13th at the age of 91.

Obit (with video) on MSNBC.com.

New York Times Obit.

(Thanks to LB’s Rambles.)

Trouble in 3D City?

Trouble, oh we got trouble,
Right here in 3D City!
With a capital “T”, that rhymes with “D”
And that stands for Drool.

According to a press release from The Nielsen Company and a blog post in the New York Times – people who have actually viewed 3D TV say they are less likely to buy a new 3D set than people that have heard about 3D TV but have not actually seen it. In Sam Grobart’s NY Times post, he suggests that the deal breaker could just be having to wear those 3D glasses.

(Click on the white space in the graphic to see it full size.)

(With apologies to Meredith Willson.)

Can ABC News Be Saved?

All week I’ve been watching from the sidelines the fallout from the resignation of ABC News David Westin. I’ll have some choice commentary of my own in a few days as I continue to touch base with my friends who were or still are employed there.

In the meantime, below are some links worth reading (in no particular order):

Here’s How to Save ABC News

Can Anything Save ABC News from Extinction?

‘Extinction?’ Prediction ‘Belongs at the Bottom of the Birdcage’

Shoes to Fill at ABC News

Who Pushed ABC News’ Chief?

ABC News Likely to Keep Approach

Network News Changes: Just a Matter of Time

Net Wit: Why Neutrality Matters

In an article in the September 6th issue of Time Magazine, Joel Stein makes the case against net neutrality by arguing that limited bandwidth needs to be allocated fairly. He says that is why your cell phone company “allows 911 calls through first, phone calls second, instant messages next and Web searches last.”

Allocating bandwidth is fine if you are an over-the-air broadcaster or cell phone company where there is limited (government licensed) spectrum. But let’s think about where most of us get our home internet service. Unless you are stealing it from your neighbor’s unencrypted router, chances are you are getting it from your cable company – which is also in the business of selling you pricey “silver” and “gold” packages of pay-tv channels.

What happens if you and a majority of the people in your franchise area begin watching True Blood, Dexter and Rescue Me by downloading them from Bit-Torrent? You and your neighbors cancel your high cost cable packages and opt for the basic package plus internet service. Watch your cable companies revenue decline while bandwidth usage goes up, making it harder for them to stream “on-demand” movies to those people who are still stupid enough to pay for them. How do you think that will make your cable company feel about net neutrality? Just Google “tiered service“.

Smaller Cable Nets Squeezed Out?

An interesting post from NewTeeVee on how smaller cable networks may be forced off systems as they devote more money and bandwidth to the bigfoot “must carry” networks such as those from Disney, NBCU, TimeWarner and Discovery. The post discusses how AT&T U-verse let its contract with Crown Media to lapse on September 1st.

Disney and NBCU are a double threat as they also own over-the-air stations that are must-carry as per FCC regulations.

IFA: 3D Adds Depth to TV Landscape

Chris Nuttall of the Financial Times filed this report from the IFA consumer electronics show in Berlin. Nuttall said that the rumored Toshiba eyeglass-less 3D TV was not demoed. The report also had a list of what Nuttall considered to be the “best gadgets” at the show, including Apple’s “Apple TV”.

Graeme Wearden of The Guardian also highlighted Panasonic and Sony’s 3D announcements including a 3D projector by Sony. Panasonic announced a 3D IPTV service that would allow stereo movies to be downloaded to it’s TVs and Blu-ray players.

And for a more pessimistic view, see Harry McCracken’s blog post.