Bill Roberts is secretary-general of the North American Broadcasters Association.

While digital radio was officially launched in Toronto late last month, and was a first for North America, the launch of digital television in Canada is being largely driven by the schedule for its introduction set by the Federal Communications Commission in the u.s. The fcc’s aim is to make free, local, digital over-the air broadcast television available to the public as soon as possible.

According to the fcc’s rules, the majority of Americans should have access to dtv by 1999 and nearly everyone should have access to it by 2002. The National Association of Broadcasters indicates that, as of Oct. 4, 75 dtv stations were operating in the u.s., far exceeding the fcc’s timetable for conversion to digital television.

Additional spectrum has been allocated to American broadcasters, enabling them to continue to broadcast analog signals as they make the transition to digital service. At the end of the transition period, expected in the year 2006, broadcasters will be required to end analog broadcasting, and return the spectrum to the fcc for other uses, provided only that 85% of tv households have access to digital signals.

What does DTV

offer audiences?

The transition from analog to digital broadcasting enables the more efficient use of the standard six MHz channel allocations. By using the digital equivalent of today’s ntsc analog system with 525 lines per picture, standard definition tv, it will be possible to broadcast four or five program streams in place of the single channel available today. Further, a wider screen, matching the one used in the cinema and having an aspect ratio of 16:9, will contribute to a superior picture for the home viewer.

However, the real promise of digital television is high-definition television. The introduction of digital, wide-screen hdtv with cd-quality sound will escalate today’s broadcast quality to a plateau never before imagined. It is the culmination of a 30-year quest to deliver the quality of the cinema experience into the home living room, and has led to the complete reinvention of television as we know it.

As Joseph Flaherty, senior vp, technology, at cbs and chair of naba’s technical committee, has said: ‘Wide-screen, high-definition television is not just pretty pictures for today’s small-screen tv sets. Rather, it is a wholly new digital platform that will support the larger and vastly improved displays now in development for commercialization. hdtv, viewed on such high-quality, wide-screen displays, will create an entirely new viewing experience, and will finally make the home theater a practical reality.’

One of the most dramatic features of hdtv is the television coverage of sports. The high resolution and wide-screen coverage enables the whole field or the whole court to be seen at once, while still enabling the viewer to see all the details of an individual player and the movement of the ball.

The digital hdtv channel is able also to broadcast textual and graphic information in addition to the hdtv program. This information can include news, stock market data, information supplementing the hdtv program being broadcast, and possibly new interactive services being developed.

Digital television sets went on sale in the u.s. in the autumn of 1998 and over 70,000 units have been sold. The Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association predicts that the penetration of digital television sets in the u.s. will reach 30% of all television households by the year 2006, with the first 10 million sets purchased between 1999 and 2003.

In comparison, cema notes that color tv penetration rose to only 10% during the first eight years on the market and vcrs reached 30% in their first eight years on the mass market.

This autumn, naba members in the u.s. are making hdtv programming much more widely available. With respect to over-the-air broadcasters, cbs is delivering up to 15 hours a week of primetime programming in hdtv throughout the 1999/2000 season. nbc has created a new studio so that The Tonight Show with Jay Leno can be shot and distributed in the high-resolution format. Simultaneously, the program is down-converted to ntsc for broadcast on the network’s analog channels during the transition phase of the operation.

All of abc’s Monday night nfl football games and movies-of-the-week will be broadcast in hdtv, while a range of programs from pbs will be distributed in hdtv.

For u.s. services available by satellite, naba member hbo has been distributing two channels in high-definition format from its own satellite since last March and DirecTv is carrying the two hdtv channels this fall.

In cable tv, Time Warner is already transmitting the cbs hdtv network programming.

DTV in Mexico

Like Canada, Mexico is looking towards the u.s. experience for guidance. naba members Televisa and TV Azteca are experimenting with producing and distributing programming in the high-definition format. Televisa, Mexico’s largest broadcaster, is distributing digital programming four hours daily from Monday to Thursday and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Friday to Sunday, including soccer games, which are broadcast in their original hd format.

Mexico’s second largest broadcaster, TV Azteca, with networks broadcasting in Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Chile, did its first high-definition live and recorded transmissions in 1997. TV Azteca now has a digital production centre, including four studios, three video post-production suites, three audio post suites, and nine mobile units.

The Canadian situation

Michael McEwen, president of Canadian Digital Television (cdtv), an industry-driven organization managing the transition from analog to digital television in Canada, said recently that ‘Canada’s strategy for dtv has always been a ‘fast follow’ strategy to the American rollout. This anticipates a lag of about 18 months to two years behind the u.s.’

In the near future, Canadian broadcasters will have access to test results from an experimental dtv transmitter in Ottawa, a cooperative project between cdtv, several of its members, Industry Canada and the Communications Research Centre. At the outset, testing will relate to Canadian frequency allotments, formats and picture quality.

When can we expect hdtv to be available here in Canada?

Unlike the u.s., where hdtv first became available largely via over-the-air broadcasts, Canadians will likely receive their initial access to regular hdtv programming via direct-to-home satellite broadcast. Direct-to-home providers clearly have the digital capacity to offer high-definition television programming in the near future.

The timelines for more widespread distribution of digital television are less distinct. Canadians have not yet had the benefit of a full year of American experience with hdtv. For the time being, cdtv is concentrating on testing, dealing with the economic issues associated with the transition from analog to digital, and exploring the potential value-added aspect of the digital broadcast signal for Canadians. As McEwen says: ‘It’s a revolution happening in an evolutionary way.’

Importance of standards

naba’s technical committee actively participates in the work of standard-setting bodies such as the International Telecommunications Union. Progress has been made with respect to hdtv standards in that a single Common Image Format has been adopted for the purpose of program production and exchange worldwide.

In the u.s., the Advanced Television Systems Committee is the equivalent of Canada’s cdtv. The atsc has adopted a family of hdtv standards which naba supports, and we have communicated our endorsement to the administrations of the three nafta countries.

The world is taking shape in hdtv, and naba is working to ensure that North American perspectives and needs are well represented at the international level.