National Geographic Channel
by George Winslow -- Multichannel News, 2/10/2008 7:00:00 PM
Believing that high-definition programming would be so “fundamental for the future of our brand,” National Geographic Channel started producing all of its programming in HD in 2005, and in January 2006 launched a simulcast HD service, according to general manager Steve Schiffman.
“HD is a very important competitive differentiator for operators,” Schiffman said. “Because it is so important for viewers and our distributors, we made the decision to have almost 100% of our full-day lineup in HD.”
But the strategy of quickly moving all production to HD and launching a simulcast feed, wasn’t simply based on the idea of offering viewers stunning images of the natural world. As a relatively new channel that launched in 2001 and is currently available in about 67 million homes, top management didn’t want to fragment their audience and reduce advertising revenue by introducing a separately rated HD channel.
Biting the bullet and quickly moving all production over to HD allowed them to avoid that problem.
The HD feed is now available in about 8 million homes, making it the fifth most widely distributed HD service, Schiffman said. Existing deals are expected to boost distribution to 13 million by July.
Ratings data for HD channels remains scanty. But Brad Dancer, vice president of research and digital media, believes the HD feed has higher ratings in homes with HD sets. “All the research I’ve seen shows that 35% to 40% of viewers turn to HD channels first,” he said.
The fact that men viewers are buying HD sets to view sports, is also helping, Dancer said. “National Geographic Channel cuts across all demos but about 65% of our viewers are men, which is helping to drive a lot of HD viewing of our channel,” he said.
Another illustration of the channel’s popularity, he added, are recent surveys from Beta Research. For the last three years, Beta surveys found that Nat Geo was the “No. 1 most requested HD network requested by viewers,” Dancer said.
Producing the channel’s signature HD fare remains expensive but the costs are dropping. “Early on, costs for HD productions were 15 to 20% higher, but have since dropped to a 5% to 10% premium,” Schiffman said.
The move to all HD production has also required a multimillion-dollar investment in technology and equipment. John Fletcher, National Geographic Channel vice president of production services and network operations, said that they have had to upgrade their entire post-production facility, creating 10 editing suites for HD and surround sound, and that the channel is moving to a file-based workflow.
“We are still delivering tapes but in six months or so we will be pushing HD files to our master control, which is on the Fox lot in Los Angeles,” he said.
Currently, the channel is using a file based post-production system from Front Porch Digital, a variety of HD decks from Sony and Panasonic and Avid editing systems, according to Fletcher.
Early on, as it moved to HD production, Nat Geo also purchased some Panasonic HD cameras, which were loaned out to production houses that had not yet acquired their own HD cameras.
“When we started, HD equipment was very expensive and we realized that a lot of our products hadn’t made the investment,” Fletcher said. “Loaning them out to outside companies created a very beneficial partnership” that helped the channel rapidly expand it HD content.
As they expand their VOD offering, Fletcher notes that they are also looking for ways to encode HD on-demand programming in house.
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