The Major League Baseball All-Star game in Anaheim, Ca. in July will be telecast in 3D only on DirecTV this summer through a relationship with Panasonic and the broadcast partner of Fox Sports.
The announcement came from Eric Shanks, executive vp, DirecTV Entertainment, during a media presentation by Panasonic on the eve of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas Wednesday (Jan. 6) in which the electronics giant made an official announcement that it will team with the satellite service provider to launch three channels of 3D programming by June, as first reported here on Dec. 29.
Panasonic, the exclusive presenting sponsor of DirecTV’s new HD 3D channels, will provide development funding and Panasonic branding will be heavily promoted in DirecTV marketing of the 3D channels for a one-year period. Panasonic will also make available 3D production tools, such as Full HD 3D camcorders, professional monitors and related production technology assistance.
(Story continues below the following 2-min. video clip of highlights from the CES presentation.)
At launch, the new DirecTV HD 3D channels “powered by Panasonic”:
* a free 3D sampler demo channel featuring event programming such as sports, music and other content.
* a 24-hour 3D pay-per-view (PPV) channel focused on movies, documentaries and other programming.
* a 24-hour 3D video-on-demand (VOD) channel
The channels will be available to all DirecTV HD customers with no additional equipment required except a 3D-enabled TV. DirecTV will electronically upgrade the set-top boxes of all of their HD customers with free software.
Panasonic and DirecTV, will leverage relationships with programming partners and movie studios to obtain new and existing 3D content. Among the partners expected to develop additional 3D programming for this year and 2011 will be AEG/AEG Digital Media (concerts), CBS, Fox Sports/FSN, Golden Boy Promotions (boxing), HDNet, MTV, NBC Universal and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.
“We led the way with HD and we are excited to do the same with 3D,” said Shanks. “We are taking a technology that at one time could only be seen in a theater and bringing it into the living rooms of the largest audience in the United States. By partnering with Panasonic, we are bringing together two industry leaders to deliver the most advanced television technology available today…”
“Panasonic has been developing 3D standards for television for several years, and we believe it represents a fundamentally new experience in home entertainment because it adds the immersive nature of real life,” said Yoshi Yamada, chairman & CEO of Panasonic Corporation of North America. “From leading the development of the Full HD 3D standard for Blu-ray Disc to launching Full HD 3D stereoscopic prosumer camcorders; to now supporting broadcast of 3D content by DirecTV; to introducing a broad line of Full HD 3D VIERA televisions and a Full HD 3D Blu-ray player in 2010; our commitment to 3D is unquestioned in the industry.”
– By Scott Hettrick
I’m an early adopter of this technology. and the critics of this technolgy have one or two things, (or both) in commom.
1)…They just purchased a HDTV within the last 2 or so yearsand are angry they missed the opportunity…..
2)…..They haven’t researched prices thoroughly enough,& believe that they can’t get a 3D HDTV for under $3,000.00(USD) and think it’s only for “the rich”.
I am so far from rich it’s not funny, making less than 35K a year,and i did my research and was able to purchase a 50 inch Samsung plasma 3D HDTV for $1650.00(USD) at a BestBuy in the Atlanta Georgia area.
I was lucky enough to have waited 2 years past the time i was planning to upgrade my SDTV,because i did my research and was willing to wait for this new technology, and couldn’t be more happy with it. Objects in the picture actually look furthur away instead of just smaller.I can’t wait until the launch of these initial channels and am very anxious to see what the future holds ! I only hope i can resist my urges for the pay per view channel.
I encourage anyone that thinks this technology is priced beyond their reach, to be patient, do your research, and haggle. Most elecronics retailers will do price matching, so use that to your advantage as a consumer.I did, and it paid off in spades for me, as i was able to actually become an early adopter, and not screw the pooch in doing it.