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NBC's Zucker: Who Needs HDTV?
TV Predictions.com ^ | 10-26-06 | Phillip Swann

Posted on 10/26/2006 7:20:25 PM PDT by Snickering Hound

NBC says it's dropping most scripted programs from the network's 8 p.m. time slot next season, replacing them with reality and game shows.

The unscripted fare, which is cheaper to produce, will not be broadcast in High-Definition TV. However, NBC Universal TV CEO Jeff Zucker says that's no big deal.

In an interview with The Washington Post, published today at washingtonpost.com, Zucker was asked if high-def viewers might be less interested in watching non-HD programming.

"It's hard to say if viewers will be less interested in unscripted programming that's not in HD when the rest of the programming is in HD," Zucker tells the newspaper. "I think it's a fair question, but I'm not overly concerned about it at this point."

While the HDTV audience is growing, some network executives have occasionally remarked that it's still too small to have an impact on network schedules and ratings. HDTVs are now in approximately 25 million U.S. homes, but slightly fewer than 10 million actually have the HD tuners necessary to watch high-def signals.

Zucker's NBC decided in 2004 not to air a separate HDTV channel for the Summer Olympics because it said the audience was too small. After being roundly criticized in the press and Internet message boards, NBC reversed that decision for its coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympics.

The network's decision to restrict the 8 p.m. hour to unscripted shows, such as Deal or No Deal, is part of an overall effort to cut $750 million from its annual operating budget. Scripted programs, such as dramas and sitcoms, are more expensive to air due to actor salaries and higher production costs.

Producing a show in high-def also requires more expense, perhaps as much as 20 percent, according to some reports.

To NBC's credit, the network recently completed a $3.5 million renovation of The Today Show's studio and production facilities so it could air in HD.

Final note: After Zucker said last week that unscripted programs would not be scheduled in the 8 p.m. time slot, a NBC spokesman clarified his remarks, saying some comedies could still make the cut.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: hdtv; nbc; nothingbutcrap; zucker
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To: No.6
IMO Zucker is a loon and needs to fire himself before he gets his network in any further trouble.

Agreed. You don't foster an innovative environment by dismissing progress. The fact that he'd publicly do so is terrible management.

101 posted on 10/27/2006 11:56:18 AM PDT by NittanyLion
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To: No.6

"...but earlier you wrote: "HDTV of at least 16.5 inches in height" which sounds like a 27" TV (27" is diagonal, that divided by square root of 2 is 19" high). Now you're talking about a 57" HDTV. Huge price difference there."

The 27" TV is about 16.5 high (not square). I figure if I'm going to go to HD, the height of the images has to be at least as tall as what I am looking at now.

I did the math and came up with a minimum of a 34" HD set. Since there don't seem to be any non-tube 34" sets (190 pounds for a 34" tube HD set), it seems that the 37" model is the one that meets my needs. They are in the $1400-$2500 range.

Assuming I want to spend the money, I then would like to get the programming and the DVR capability that I have now. It doesn't seem to be available.

What's the point of spending all of that money when I'll be watching the same old 4:3 standard TV programs? I don't get it. I've been to sports bars and watched the HD versions of football and baseball games. It's OK, but how much sports can one watch?

My evaluation is that unless you have broadcast HD in your area or are a heavy sports watcher (with HD channels for your favorite teams), it's going to be a good long while before converting makes sense. Additionally, since the price of HD is going to drop exponentially over the next few years, the wait will be painless and will save money with the loss of only a few hours a week of actual HD programming that you might watch.


102 posted on 10/27/2006 12:00:39 PM PDT by Poser (Willing to fight for oil)
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To: Poser

Going from a 17"TV to a 57" HDTV. Yeah, you're really making a fair comparison there to complain about prices.

Go back under your bridge, troll.


103 posted on 10/27/2006 12:17:45 PM PDT by SengirV
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To: Tall_Texan

I concur.

I see no reason to jump now when you have competing formats, poor choice of programing (Big One There), and new tech is going to be even better than plasma or LCD sets.


104 posted on 10/27/2006 12:28:31 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: reagandemo
All they have to do is watch an episode of Miami CSI in HD or a show on Discovery HD and they will see what they have been missing. A huge difference.

I do remember passing by a Discovery HD picture of some vultures picking apart a bloody carcass with flies buzzing all around and entrails hanging from the animal.

That really made me appreciate low def.

105 posted on 10/27/2006 12:39:05 PM PDT by Tall_Texan ("Journalislam" - reporting about murderous extremists as if they are moral equivalents.)
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To: sageb1

We have HD TV....and once you watch it, you'll see the difference....the HD TV has a much sharper focus to the point that the picture looks "real"....when you return back to your regular TV, you won't be able to see the fine detail.....and the picture will look fuzzy and out of focus....


106 posted on 10/27/2006 12:42:35 PM PDT by auto power
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To: MCH

16:9 scales way down to 16:6 when they start running the scrolls.


107 posted on 10/27/2006 12:44:13 PM PDT by Old Professer (The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, and writes again.)
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To: Positive

Can you really see their goosebumps?


108 posted on 10/27/2006 12:45:47 PM PDT by Old Professer (The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, and writes again.)
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To: Hildy

I don't think it is the cost as much as the "why bother" factor.

The quality is awsome. However the content is poop.

I don't drift down to the lower end of the channel spectrum. (path to 9/11 was the only time in years)

People buy big screens before superbowl I imagin HDTV's have the same cycle.

Some how I don't feel the incentive to see Catie Kouric on CBS or Rosane Bar on Showtime or last years Politically Correct movies that are on the non-premium channels in HDTV.

Particularly when as people point out next year it will be FAR less money. I will switch, just not today and not at the price presently offered.


109 posted on 10/27/2006 12:50:02 PM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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To: NittanyLion

Try my approach, I don't have a TV of any kind. When a game is on that I want to watch I go to the local bar. I either read a book or turn on the Radio (XM Radio). Can anyone tell me what I am missing on TV?


110 posted on 10/27/2006 12:51:01 PM PDT by cynicalman
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To: sageb1

>>>I don't know anything about HDTV. To me a TV is a TV

There are things that just have to be seen in HD to understand why it's so much better. One of them in Nikki Cox on NBC's "Las Vegas". And I find I'm watching more sports than I used to on HD - NFL, World Series, even golf.


111 posted on 10/27/2006 12:52:27 PM PDT by Keith in Iowa (Liberals: People whose relationship to reality appears to be somewhat tenuous.)
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To: SengirV

"Going from a 17"TV to a 57" HDTV. Yeah, you're really making a fair comparison there to complain about prices."

I would be going from a 27" 4:3 to a 37" HD. You need to read the whole thread before you jump in with both feet in your mouth.


112 posted on 10/27/2006 12:53:50 PM PDT by Poser (Willing to fight for oil)
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To: Poser

That's a fair argument. The only really phenomenal HD programming option comes from Dish network (which, again, is a non-option for me).

For your purposes waiting is a good deal.

For *my* purposes I get good value out of a HDTV presently. I have a moderate number of HD channels (fortunately including TNT, as my wife likes Law and Order). Standard DVDs are more enjoyable on a widescreen display; I've saved a bit of money and a lot of grief by not going to movies. Lastly, the set we chose (a Panasonic LCD rear-projection) has 4 component, 1 DVI-HDCP, some S-Video and two VGA inputs so it makes a great computer monitor.


113 posted on 10/27/2006 12:54:38 PM PDT by No.6 (www.fourthfightergroup.com)
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To: Snickering Hound

the better question: who needs nbc?


114 posted on 10/27/2006 12:55:41 PM PDT by isom35
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To: magellan

The whole subject seems anaphoric to me; who wants to look at black bars?


115 posted on 10/27/2006 12:59:31 PM PDT by Old Professer (The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, and writes again.)
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To: Snickering Hound

Who needs NBC? Broadcast news is obsolete.


116 posted on 10/27/2006 1:01:09 PM PDT by dashing doofus
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To: Snickering Hound
NBC's Zucker: Who Needs HDTV?

Well, not networks whose editorial biases are putting them out of business, anyway. ;)

117 posted on 10/27/2006 1:03:16 PM PDT by Mr. Jeeves ("When the government is invasive, the people are wanting." -- Tao Te Ching)
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To: No.6

"fortunately including TNT, as my wife likes Law and Order"

Are Law and Order reruns in HD or are you watching 4:3 TV in HD?


118 posted on 10/27/2006 1:12:03 PM PDT by Poser (Willing to fight for oil)
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To: sageb1

Just wait until you see them side by side during the Super Bowl.


119 posted on 10/27/2006 1:13:38 PM PDT by RockinRight (Maintaining a Republican majority is MORE IMPORTANT than your temper tantrum.)
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To: Tall_Texan
Conversion. All the old standard programming you have on VHS and DVD will not look any better in high def than they did on standard and may even be distorted in the new 16:9 format. I have decades' worth of sporting events in low def 4:3 standard format that are either unplayable or look like crap on a high def tv.

True of VHS but not DVD. If you have any DVD's that currently play in 16 X 9 with the bars at the top and bottom, they'll fill up the whole screen on an HDTV. And while the picture is NOT high definition, with a progressive-scan 480p DVD player the picture is MUCH better.

I don't have an HDTV yet either, I'm waiting for prices to come down. Once they hit the $600 range I'll take the plunge.

120 posted on 10/27/2006 1:18:27 PM PDT by RockinRight (Maintaining a Republican majority is MORE IMPORTANT than your temper tantrum.)
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