Peter Griffin: Blurred vision over future of high-definition TV

New Zealand used to have a reputation for its early adoption of new technology. I say used to, because it's clear by now that we've well and truly lost it.

There's no better example of that than in our lacklustre approach to introducing digital terrestrial television and so-called "high-definition" (HD) broadcasting.

If you hadn't noticed, the world is going HD. From the new Xbox 360 games console, which goes on sale here in March, to the flat screen TVs and projectors we're buying, to the movies we will soon be renting on DVD and downloading via the internet, HD is the future standard.

It allows for better picture quality than currently available and Dolby 5.1 surround sound to be delivered in broadcasts. The better use of radio spectrum that comes with HD broadcasting means more channels can be offered, more choice, more options for interactive services and ultimately a better viewing experience.

The world is moving to HD, but we trail just about everyone in its uptake. That fact was brought home to me last week as I sat in the audience at the Screen Production and Development Association's annual conference in Wellington.

Of the international producers who breezed through for the conference, most were bemused at our laggardly approach to going digital.

Take for example Tom Gutteridge, a Los Angeles-based consultant who used to head Freemantle Media, the producer of American Idol.

"I've checked. You've got the technology, you've got the transmitters.

"It's not as expensive as you might think," said an incredulous Gutteridge, who pointed out that American broadcasters hoped to turn off their analog transmitters by the end of 2008.

"There are European countries much smaller than New Zealand with a digital platform," he said.

In Britain, digital terrestrial television was given a huge boost by the formation of Freeview, a coalition of broadcasters like the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and BSkyB.

Thirty free-to-air digital TV channels are offered to subscribers with Freeview decoders. Even Gutteridge's 84 year-old mother has a digital Freeview box which she uses to watch BBC 4 documentaries.

Advertisers want to spend more money on spots across more channels, not more on the same few channels, said Gutteridge, who pointed out that HD also has the potential to be the first global TV format, the same content capable of being shown anywhere that has switched to HD.

The same message came from Patrick Younge, the executive vice- president of the Discovery Channel's popular travel channel.

He never gets ideas for travel TV shows pitched at him from New Zealand but he's keen to receive them.

The only catch is that Discovery is increasingly looking for shows shot in the HD format.

Our producers, by and large, aren't set up for HD yet because there are no HD broadcasts. Unless the industry hurries up and goes digital, they will find themselves cut off from export opportunities.

Currently New Zealand broadcasters receive some content from overseas in HD but have to convert it to standard definition so it can be broadcast. In effect, they have to degrade high-quality content so our obsolete infrastructure can handle it.

As far as the roadmap for the move to HD goes, the Government has been looking at it for some time but has no firm plan of action.

John "Barney" Barnett, the head of South Pacific Pictures, the production company behind Shortland Street and Whale Rider, pointed out the absurdity of the situation in his Spada conference keynote address:

"So the people who are ready and capable of switching, have to wait until the Government does its review to work out that, yes, we will have to switch, and we're now going to tell those companies how to do what they already know," said Barnett.

As the respected producer points out, the move to digital will degrade the value of TVNZ's current analog assets.

The company's balance sheet will take a hit, something a reeling board is unlikely to want to deal with in the current environment.

But Barnett points out something even more frustrating about our troubled state broadcaster - the fact that in 1990, TVNZ paid less than $50 million for a stake in Sky TV. By 1999 it had sold out for around $150 million.

"In plain economic terms, 35 per cent of Sky is worth about $850 million today," said Barnett.

And with an interest in Sky, TVNZ would have had a foot in the digital satellite camp and a platform to deliver more and better programming.

Sky currently delivers digital TV via its satellite service, but it's not a HD service.

TVNZ for its part, said at the conference it will table a paper on the digital subject with the Government "in the next month or two" but wouldn't say what it proposed to do.

Sky TV in Britain confirmed last week that it will launch high-definition satellite in the middle of next year. There'll be six channels offering HD sports, movies and entertainment programmes.

Sky subscribers have to upgrade to a new decoder and have an HD-ready TV to get the superior feed.

Hopefully Sky TV here will follow in the footsteps of the United Kingdom and soon.

But getting producers and broadcasters on the same HD page is only half the story. TV viewers need the HD-capable TV sets to get the high-definition feeds. Most of the TVs sitting in lounges around the country are not high-definition.

But around 40 per cent of new TVs sold are now flat screen TVs and many of them are HD-capable. That proportion will be more like 60 per cent this time next year.

We're being pushed towards the inevitable, but the lack of a solid plan for digital broadcasting will soon hold the TV industry back.