MidEast broadcasters plan HDTV roll out

HDTV is a digital television broadcasting system which displays an image quality that is up to five times sharper than standard television.

The impact of HD is particularly noticeable on large-screen TVs because the bigger the size of the television the HD picture is viewed on, the greater the improvement in picture quality.

At year-end 2008, there were over 36 million HDTV households worldwide, up from 29 million at the end of 2007. The US has 61% of the total number of HD households globally, but the technology is also gaining popularity in Europe, where over 130 HD channels are currently on offer.

Weak pay-TV penetration

While TV viewers in the West have been enjoying HD for many years, HD programming in the Middle East has been almost non-existent.

One of the main reasons why the region has been slow to adopt HD is that the vast majority of households get their channels from low-end set-top-boxes that are not HD-compatible, says Nick Grande, managing director of ChannelSculptor, a strategic consultancy working on behalf of regional television businesses.

By contrast, most viewers in the US and Europe receive their programming via pay TV, which is a much more fertile environment to launch HD because pay TV providers have a captive audience in which to promote the service.

'In a pay TV environment you have walled garden. You can tell people about your HD product and have confidence about them finding out about it because you are cross-promoting it on a platform they are already picking up,' he said. 'The trouble is, pay TV in the Middle East is very weak because they have had this difficulty penetrating the [free-to-air] market.'

Given the steep start-up costs in developing the infrastructure needed to support HD and challenges in marketing the service in the region, broadcasters have put HD on the back burner while focusing on other priorities.

'The consumer doesn't really understand the benefit of HD, and with very little of an HD offering out there you can sort of see their point. At the moment they are happy to get what they get, which is normally about 10-12 channels, and they can get that with their $20-$30 box,' he said.

'It's sort of a chicken vs. the egg situation where they need the equipment to get the channels, but until there are sufficient HD channels out there, there is little impetus for them to buy it, and chances are they wouldn't even know about it because of all these other barriers.'

Showtime gears up

One company that is preparing to take the plunge into this uncertain market is Showtime, which has been eyeing a rollout for several years.

Marc-Antoine d'Halluin, president and CEO of Showtime Arabia, told AME Info that the broadcaster plans a major rollout of a full HD package of sports, movies, and popular TV shows at some point in 2010.

'I cannot tell you precisely when we will be moving ahead, but I would say it is in the not too distant future,' he said. 'If you had asked me a year ago, I would have told you my plans were to do it in the next two or three years, but frankly as late as possible. But a year down the road I am in the final stage of preparation.'

He said the reason for the change of heart is that the market is 'a bit more ready' and there is now more content available in HD format. 'So I think it is up for us pay TV players to step into the market relatively soon, and more or less all of us have been thinking about it, and all of us have articulated plans to do that in a logical way that makes economic sense,' he said.

D'Halluin predicts that the new service will gain rapid popularity when customers see the enhanced video quality. 'When you introduce it you want to do it in an impactful way and give enough to the market to convince it that it makes sense purchase our box,' he said.

Despite the challenges of implementing HD in the region, Showtime believes HD is the wave of the future in broadcasting. 'Two to three years from now, the key for us will be how we provide on-demand and HD in a way that fulfills any home's wishes of wanting to see what they want, when they want, in the best quality.'

Du eyes 2009 rollout

UAE telco Du also says that it is rapidly moving forward with plans to offer an HD package.

The company recently spent $27m on upgrading its core fibre network and claims it can now deliver several HD channels through newly provided HD-compliant set-top-boxes.

The telco said that its first commercial HD launch will be in 2010 at the latest, but possibly as early as late 2009. In a statement, the company said: 'Our market research shows that there is demand for quality content in HD. In addition to subscription revenues, introducing HD channels will help us build customer loyalty.

'We believe that demand for HD content will be stronger when combined with the interactive experience that only Internet Protocol TV can provide to customers. This specifically applies to video-on-demand and catch-up TV, which allows customers to enjoy HD content at the time that best suits them. Du is already working to provide such services to its customers in the near future.'