Orbit Showtime Network to go all HD

Broadcaster plans to switch off standard services and move to high-definition TV by 2012, as price of hardware continues to decrease.

DUBAI - JANUARY 31,2010 - Marc- Antoine d' Halluin , President and CEO of Orbit Showtime Network gesture during press conference on the merger of Showtime and Orbit. ( Paulo Vecina/ The National ) *** Local Caption *** BZ01FE P01 OSN 01.jpg
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Orbit Showtime Network (OSN) plans to deliver all of its 75 channels in high-definition (HD) by the end of 2012 and says it will switch off all standard-resolution services six months later. OSN says 30,000 of its customers already have HD-compatible set-top boxes and that an additional 20,000 of the units are being deployed across the Gulf region every month.

It launched its ninth HD channel, OSN Movies HD+2, on June 1. "I'd estimate that by mid to end 2011 every one of the channels we produce in house will be available in HD," said Marc-Antoine d'Halluin, the president and chief executive of the satellite network, based in Dubai. "[The non-HD channels will be available] no more than six to 12 months after that. So by the end of 2012 all our channels will be in HD."

Mr d'Halluin said standard-definition channels would be switched off by mid-2013 "at the latest". OSN launched four HD channels in February, followed by another four at the beginning of March. The ninth channel, OSN Movies HD+2, shows the same films as the existing HD movie channel but with a two-hour time difference. "The reality in terms of consumer expectation is that at 7pm, 9pm and 11pm you'll have two movies starting instead of one," said Mr d'Halluin. Other HD channels carried by OSN include Discovery, National Geographic HD, Show Sports 1 HD and Food Network HD.

"We have very good reactions from the market that the Middle East wants HD. OSN is already the biggest platform for HD in the region - and the whole company is gearing up behind the HD effort," he added. Samsung recently announced it had signed a deal with OSN to sponsor the HD movie channels and support the roll-out of the HD decoders. Justin Shaw, the electronics company's senior manager of corporate marketing in the MENA region, said it was now the norm for new television sets to be HD-compatible.

"Within the last two years, there has been a decline in the retail selling price of HD flat-panel TVs. It's become the mainstream product to purchase. It would probably be hard to buy a non-HD set," said Mr Shaw. Until recently, the MENA region lagged several years behind more developed markets in its adoption of HD. Mr Shaw said that was more to do with the availability of HD channels, rather than the TV sets. "To date, what has really been lacking is on the content side, rather than the hardware side," he said.

Mr Shaw said large, branded HD televisions were now available for as little as Dh1,300 (US$353.95). Despite this, some analysts claim satellite TV networks could be forced to delay their HD plans if consumers are not prepared to purchase new TV sets. Martin Fabel, a media consultant at AT Kearney Middle East, said there were potential "bottlenecks" in the switchover to HD because not all consumers have upgraded their sets. "Most TV sets will need to be switched," he said. Mr Fabel added that the cost of HD channels was already high and the market would be unlikely to sustain further increases. "The cost of subscribing to HD channels on pay-TV networks already comes at a considerable premium, so it might be difficult to ask for higher fees for the channels," he said. Globally, the shift to HD has been significant. The UK-based market analysis company IMS Research forecasts that 255 million households will be watching HD TV globally by the end of 2013, including households viewing only pre-recorded non-broadcast video. Telecommunications companies in the Middle East, as well as satellite broadcasters, are also gearing up to supply HD channels over cable networks. Etisalat, for example, has a number of high-definition channels, including Al Jazeera Sports, OSN Movies, the Food Network and Luxe TV.

bflanagan@thenational.ae