Following a successful field-test phase, pay-TV provider Premiere is launching its Premiere HD high-definition service today in Germany and Austria. The service now offers sports highlights, feature films, series and documentaries. According to the broadcaster, this makes Premiere subscribers some of the first viewers worldwide to experience high-definition television using the new MPEG-4/H.264 and DVB-S2 technologies. “HDTV is the most important television innovation since the introduction of colour TV and, for Premiere, an investment in an important future market,” said Hans Seger, Executive Board member for Fiction & Special Interest and the executive responsible for Premiere HD. “We expect around 500,000 HD subscribers by mid-2008. Following the positive results of the field test, we are very confident that our HD channels will be well received.”
More than 1,000 Premiere subscribers were already able to see the HDTV picture quality for themselves in December and January. As part of a field test, participants examined the world’s first MPEG-4/H.264 receivers from Pace and the picture quality of Premiere HD. According to Premiere, participant feedback was “extremely positive”: 86 percent of testers found the HD image sharpness “significantly higher” than that of a conventional television picture, while 85 percent rated the colours as “significantly more brilliant.”
However, the test also showed that the quality of HD images depends on the television sets used. Installation of the HD receivers was predominantly rated as very easy (85 percent). The test gave Premiere valuable findings concerning HD quality, installation and the technology of the new devices. Minor technical issues with the receiver were passed directly to Pace. The manufacturer is already working on an initial software update for February. Following the Pace DS 810 KP, the HUMAX PR-HD1000 has now become the world’s second HD receiver using the new MPEG-4/H.264 and DVB-S2 technology to be certified by Premiere. Manufacturers will deliver larger quantities of receivers before the end of January.
Premiere HD can now be ordered, and the company says the first HD receivers are already being delivered. The new devices are due to be supplied next week to more than 1,500 specialist retailers in Germany and Austria. Under the Premiere HD umbrella brand, Premiere offers three HD subscriptions: Premiere HD FILM (feature films and series), Premiere HD Sport and Premiere HD Thema (documentaries on Discovery HD). The HD subscriptions are available as add-ons in conjunction with the corresponding standard Premiere subscription. Combined with Premiere Komplett, all three subscriptions are available from €12 per month. When bundled with a Premiere HD subscription, receivers cost from €149, depending on the subscription.
In addition to broadcasting feature films and documentaries, Premiere is also beginning to show selected sports highlights in high definition. During the second half of the current Bundesliga season, Premiere Philips HD Sport will broadcast one match live in HD on each match day, including the pre-match programme and half-time analysis. On 28 January from 3:00 p.m., Premiere will present the match between FSV Mainz 05 and 1. FC Köln live from Mainz in HD. As another highlight, the subscription broadcaster will show the UEFA Champions League round-of-16 first leg between Werder Bremen and Juventus Turin on 22 February. One match per round is also planned from the Austrian T-Mobile Bundesliga beginning with match day 23.
The 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany will occupy a major place in the schedule: the broadcaster will show all 64 World Cup matches live and in HD. “Before the 1974 World Cup, many television households replaced their old black-and-white set with a colour television. We expect this year’s World Cup to give HDTV a similar boost. In addition, the International Radio Exhibition in September will provide further important momentum for the spread of HDTV,” Premiere HD head Hans Seger said confidently.
Premiere sees these expectations confirmed by current market analyses from the Society for Consumer and Communications Electronics (gfu): when buying modern flat-panel sets, more and more consumers value future-proofing and therefore the “HD ready” logo. In December 2005, 55 percent of all LCD televisions sold in Germany already carried the logo of the European manufacturers’ association EICTA. Among plasma televisions, “HD ready” models accounted for 40 percent of unit sales in December last year. According to gfu, digital image sources in particular are stimulating sales of home-cinema-capable television sets with flat screens and modern widescreen formats. For 2006, gfu expects a total of 3.1 million devices equipped with the latest display technologies: 2.4 million LCD sets sold (2005: 1.3 million), 550,000 plasma televisions (2005: 350,000) and 165,000 projection devices (2005: the same number).
