Sony to co-launch 3D TV channel?
Take that, ESPN
Sony may partner with two leading video entertainment giants to launch a dedicated 3D TV channel, it has emerged, just hours after sports broadcaster ESPN confirmed plans for its own 3D telly service.
The Walt Disney Company that owns ESPN announced earlier today that a 3D version of the channel will go live in June this year. It isn't yet known if the channel will appear in Blighty.
A minimum of 85 live events will be broadcast in 3D during the channel’s first year, with a World Cup football match between Mexico and South Africa set to be the first 3D event.
Sony, Imax and Discovery Communications – the company behind The Discovery Channel – may steal ESPN 3D’s thunder though, becuase two industry insiders have since told the New York Times that the trio will announce plans for their own 3D channel later this week.
The trio’s 3D channel isn’t expected to launch until next year, one insider reportedly added, giving ESPN a head start.
Another crucial difference between ESPN’s confirmed 3D channel and the Sony, et al, rumoured 3D channel is that ESPN will only broadcast targeted live events in 3D. The trio’s 3D channel may run 24/7 and carry a wider range of content, the NYT’s report added.
Both Sony and Imax have an established 3D entertainment track record. The Discovery Channel has also experimented with 3D content, having previously broadcast shows about sharks in 3D.
Sony is keen to kick start an in-home 3D TV revolution. The firm’s Executive Deputy President - Hiroshi Yoshioka – said back in November that 50 per cent of all new Sony TVs will be 3D capable by 2013. ®
COMMENTS
@Eddie Edwards
They call it 3D as Binocular TV doesn't sound as good.
Never let the details get in the way of marketing.
Fail
No one is going to buy *another* new TV, having just got one for Freeview and/or HD. Give it up.
And the costs
yet another excuse for Comcast to rape customers.
You'll have to buy a bundle of unwanted channels just to get the one you want.
Then they'll advertise it for $19.99 and fail to mention that the basic connection costs $59.99 and the fee goes up to it's "regular' price of $49.99. Not to mention the "rental" fee of the encryption box for $4.99.
3D?
I presume you mean binocular TV, where the point of view is fixed but some amount of depth is apparent, rather than actual 3D TV which would be like a hologram.
The acid test is: can you get an upskirt by sitting under the TV?
I'm guessing not, otherwise the upskirt sites would be opposing this already.
Die 3D Die
Well, as Mark Kermode off Live 5 says, Avatar 3D was supposed to show the world just what 3D could do and the answer was: not a lot.
