DirecTV to Launch 3D Channel?
DirecTV got out in front of cable on HD. And it apparently wants to do the same thing with 3DTV.
According to blog HDGuru.com, the No. 1 satellite operator is prepping a 3D channel in HD featuring “an assortment of movies, sports and programs in 3D,” with the news to be announced at CES in Las Vegas next month. DirecTV will have the capacity to deliver 3DTV now that it’s launched a new satellite, DirecTV 12 (see DirecTV Eyes 200-Plus HD Channels With Satellite Launch).
A DirecTV rep didn’t pour cold water on the rumor.
“I can’t speak to what’s in the blog except to say that 3D is something we are very interested in and we’re looking at all of the various pieces of the puzzle that need to be put together,” said DirecTV VP of public relations Darris Gringeri in an e-mail.
DirecTV is not hosting a press conference at CES as it has in years past, nor will it have a booth there — but, according to Gringeri, the company “may issue some press releases.”
Note that cable is working on the details of how to deliver 3DTV, too. CableLabs, at the SCTE’s Cable-Tec Expo in October, hosted a demo to show the transmission of 3DTV signals to different 3D-capable TV sets and home-theater systems (see The 3DTV Decoder Ring and CableLabs To Host 3D TV Pavilion At Cable-Tec Expo).
Squawk commented:
Rumor likely true. Makes sense. DirecTV likes to be a trailblazer when it comes to delivering the next thing in multichannel video. 3-D is it. Once done, they can crow about for a 1-2 years before the competition catches up, then passes them when it comes to diversity of content. It'll be the HD game all over again.