As the dawn of digital high-definition television breaks over the land, there will doubtless rise a high chorus of ooohs and aaahs. But those utterances will be inspired not only by the breathtakingly clear picture, the wide-screen vistas, the wonder of it all. They will also be provoked by the angst of the vigorous forking out that is required to produce, broadcast and receive those images.

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Pain is to be expected; hdtv has been kicking and churning away in the belly of manufacturers, regulators and broadcasters for about 10 years, an easy birth and infancy seems unlikely.

The first dtv and hdtv signals began broadcasting in the u.s. as of November. By 2002, all commercial stations in the u.s. are required to switch to digital broadcasting and 2006 is the brick wall, the date by which analog signals will disappear forever (subject to review).

In Canada, the time lag for hdtv implementation is estimated at anywhere between 18 months and two years behind the u.s. In some respects, many agree that lag is a good thing: let’s wait, observe what to do and what not to do, enjoy a possible price drop in equipment.

There is, however, a let’s get on with it spirit among many in the industry in terms of setting up the parameters which will mark the digital path and gearing up for the myriad changes digital will effect.

The Task Force on the Implementation of Digital Television was established in October 1995 to advise Heritage Canada on dtv issues and coordinate transition strategies. Its report was issued in the fall of 1997.

Two of the prime recommendations of the task force – that Canada adopt the atsc standard developed and employed in the u.s. and that a ‘dtv company’ be established to guide the digital transition plan – have been acted upon, the latter resulting in the establishment of Canadian Digital Television in spring 1998.

cdtv, headed by task force chair Michael McEwen, currently has about 25 members and is expanding from a broadcasting and cable constituency base to include a bigger and broader industry sample.

cdtv has spawned four working groups, covering the technical, economic and marketing, communications policy, and production and training areas. The organization has access to the resources of the Ottawa-based Canadian Research Centre and is liaising with the technical committees in the u.s. to monitor progress there.

Other groups, including the North American Broadcasters Association and the Advanced Media Group, have also been facilitating the change to dtv and the ushering in of hdtv in Canada.

naba had early on backed the atsc standard for adoption here and has also joined the Advanced TV Systems Committee. Among naba’s other initiatives have been to endorse the task force recommendations and provide transition cost information to its members through its technical committee.

The organization has also made the case for atsc compatibility to set manufacturers and has provided information to the crtc, filing an environmental assessment to the commission on the implementation of dtv and hdtv at the time of the tv policy hearings last fall.

naba, together with cdtv, is also in the early stages of organizing a Canadian Digital tv day to provide a forum to discuss transitional issues including international standards.

naba secretary general Bill Roberts says close observation of the u.s. example in progress is a key step in Canada’s transition.

‘I think if we plug into the lag time astutely and learn from the American experiences we can save ourselves a lot of money,’ says Roberts. Part of that note-taking is focusing on how the u.s. networks divvy up the signals they send – whether dtv multicasting or full-out hdtv broadcasting emerges as the priority.

The Advanced Media Group, headed by production services industry veteran Doug McKenzie, is also spearheading efforts to keep Canada ahead of the dtv curve. The group was established last year to provide a dtv facility and a major training initiative. It has since partnered with Sheridan College in Oakville, Ont., where a new advanced tv center will be established, as well as equipment makers Sony and Silicon Graphics, which will provide technical design and engineering leadership on the project.

amg is currently finalizing its business plan, which involves private and public sector financing for the project, likely tagged at about $20 million.

The issues clouding the hdtv picture aren’t just monetary – there are innumerable technical questions, including which of the 18 formats allowed in the atsc standard will be adopted in Canada.

But the dollar considerations are as stunning as the sharp, wide-screen pictures and Dolby sound that will enhance screens over the next few years.

The screens themselves, in their first-generation incarnations, will be costly. The first hd-capable sets in the u.s. are priced between $5,000 and $10,000. That price will certainly drop, but it is uncertain how much and how fast. Some estimates indicate about 20% per year.

McEwen relays reports that digital sets are hard to come by in the States; while sets aren’t being made in mass quantities, consumer demand has been significant.

The cost to the broadcasting industry has been estimated at somewhere around $800 million. The bulk of the equipment cost to broadcasters entails an upgrade to digital transmission and antenna systems, estimated between $1.4 million and $3.1 million. Replacing towers could add another $770,000 to $3.1 million.

Recouping costs will largely rest on broadcasters arriving at some economic model and means of delivering services effectively.

McEwen says there has been initial discussion of some kind of tax-break program, an issue that will likely be explored further next summer when a more accurate handle on costs is established. The task force has already recommended that an additional $50 million be added to the Canadian Television Fund to assist production of advanced tv programming, which is said to add about 20% to production costs.

The cost of the transition to the cable industry has been estimated at around $1.5 billion. In addition to the costs of going digital, a process already underway in the cable industry, are the monetary and flexibility costs resulting if cable has to carry high-definition and analog signals.

‘I think the real incremental costs there comes in how much bandwidth they have to give up to carry high-definition and the equipment that surrounds that,’ says McEwen.

While compression technology continues to expand the number of channels that can fit through the bandwidth pipe, a high-definition signal still occupies far more space.

A possible issue associated with the time lag comes with the spillover effect as Canadians become able to pick up u.s. signals. Currently the only areas affected are Windsor/Chatham in southern Ontario and around Vancouver, which pick up the digital signals coming from Detroit and Seattle, respectively.

‘If Buffalo goes on the air toward the end of the year, that becomes more of a concern,’ says McEwen. ‘But for 18 months, I think we’re comfortable. If Canadians respond strongly by saying we want the service, we’ll have to move our timetable up.’

McEwen says the next steps toward hdtv are the establishment of a test transmitter and a solid policy statement from the government. cdtv will oversee the construction of a test transmitter in Ottawa early in the new year.

‘I’m also hoping that the government makes a firm policy announcement about the move from analog to digital,’ says McEwen. ‘Then we can work with the regulator putting a framework in place where analog broadcasters who hold licences can automatically get a digital licence.’

That policy direction is being missed, says McKenzie. ‘The truth is we’ve been frustrated by not having an official response from the Canadian government as to the task force recommendations.’

One of those recommendations, says McKenzie, was the 18-month-lag time frame, which would suggest that by 2007, give or take a few months, all analog broadcasting in Canada would cease.

While the steep costs involved and uncertainty as to consumer reaction have inspired naysayers, McKenzie says there is enough agreement established that the transition should go forward quickly.

‘When consumers see wide-screen, high-resolution I think they’ll be introduced to something they just haven’t expected,’ says McKenzie. ‘At that point I think the push syndrome that’s happening now will turn into a pull syndrome in terms of market attitude.’

McKenzie points to the faster than expected transition rate in the u.s. – 60 stations with simulcast hdtv or dtv by mid-’99 rather than 40 – and also points to another huge hdtv issue: Where is all the content going to come from?

While all movies and material shot on 35mm film have sufficient resolution and are naturally convertible to hdtv, McKenzie says the real opportunities lie in producing content specifically in digital high-definition format for advanced tv.

‘When that kind of programming emerges and is properly displayed to the consumer, I think we are really going to excite the market and open up what I call a whole new broadcast window,’ says McKenzie. ‘That to me has always signified an important business and cultural opportunity for Canadian producers and the Canadian government.’