CBS Mulls 3D Cable Network

Broadcaster Privately Demos 2D-to-3D Converted Material

By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 7/11/2011 12:01:00 AM

The Eye is trying 3D glasses on for size.

CBS may be bringing 3D versions of its shows to a 24-hour cable network, and it has already demonstrated 2D-to-3D converted programming privately to several operators, according to industry sources familiar with the project.

The broadcast network is considering a strategy to gain distribution for the 3D channel through its retransmissionconsent negotiations with cable, satellite and telco TV operators, according to one source.

However, another executive familiar with CBS’s 3D tests said the network has not made a decision on whether to move forward. “It is all very preliminary,” this source said. “There are no solid plans to launch a network.”

CBS worked with Los Angeles-based Dynamic Digital Depth, known as DDD, which uses its 2D-to-3D technology to convert, relatively inexpensively, existing material into 3D format.

A CBS spokesman declined to comment. DDD had previously declined to identify the broadcast partner it was working with.

According to DDD CEO Chris Yewdall, the company is able to convert two-dimensional video into 3D for $10,000 per hour of content, using a combination of an automated process with a human stereoscopic engineer. That’s as little as 10% of what Hollywood post-production houses have charged to convert a single minute of a 2D movie into 3D for theatrical release.

To date, a fairly limited supply of 3D content has been available through pay TV operators since the current wave of 3DTV sets hit the market in early 2010. Only two linear 3D channels are currently available to all U.S providers: ESPN 3D and 3Net from Discovery Communications, Sony and IMAX, the latter of which is carried only by DirecTV.

Meanwhile, 3DTVs aren’t going to hit critical mass for several years. Just 1.8 million U.S. households will have a 3D television by the end of this year — representing 2% of all TV homes — but the category will pick up the pace to reach 21% by 2015, according to a new forecast from SNL Kagan.

Given those factors — along with the fact that consumers have expressed irritation with the glasses — not all operators are gung-ho on the format.

“We’re dipping our toe in the water with 3D on-demand,” Melani Griffith, senior vice president of programming and video services at Insight Communications, said. “It feels very sexy, but I don’t know how real it is. Like a DeLorean car, it looks sexy, but I’m not sure how practical it is.”

Comcast, for its part, has moved quickly on the 3D front, launching ESPN 3D and its own Xfinity 3D network.

“We’ve been disappointed but not surprised by the lack of adoption on the 3D front,” Marcien Jenckes, Comcast’s senior vice president and general manager of video services, said. Like HD, “that’s also a richer format that we believe we can have a leadership position in.”

Comcast’s action on 3D wasn’t a response to DirecTV, which also was a first-mover in 3DTV, Jenckes said. He acknowledged cable had to play catch-up on the HD front after DirecTV took the lead on channel count several years ago (see “Digital Video: The Next Wave” special report).

“I wouldn’t look at 3D as a ‘lesson learned’ from the HD front. … We, as a company, spend a lot of time and energy talking with consumers about what engages them. Our desire to be aggressive on 3D is based on what consumers have told us.”