On the heels of a flurry of announcements by RealD that it has partned non-exclusively with Sony, JVC and Samsung on home 3D technology, theatrical competitor IMAX Corp. has teamed up with Sony and Discovery Communications on a joint venture 24-hour 3D channel.
The announcement of the channel to launch in 2011 came only hours after ESPN announced it is teaming up with Sony on the first all-3D sports channels this year.
IMAX, Discovery, and Sony, through its U.S. affiliate, Sony Corporation of America, each will be equal partners in the joint venture that has yet to be named. Governance will be handled by a board of directors comprised of members from each of the three companies, with the day-to-day operations run by a separate staff and management team that will report to the board. A search for the venture’s CEO is underway.
The new 3D network will feature high-quality premium content from genres that are most appealing in 3D, including natural history, space, exploration, adventure, engineering, science and technology, motion pictures and children’s programming from Discovery, Sony Pictures Entertainment, IMAX and other third-party providers.
In the future, the companies also will explore international distribution opportunities in selected markets.
“We’re reaching more and more consumers with the recent expansion of the IMAX® theatre network and the growth of 3D movie content,” said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond. “This new business venture is the first step in our strategic effort to take 3D into the home and extend the IMAX brand. We’ve already had strong collaborations with Discovery Communications and Sony in the past on IMAX event film titles, and we are thrilled to work with such strong partners to be the first to make in-home 3D a reality.”
In a conference call Tuesday, Gelford notd that despite representing only 2% of the theaters showing “Avatar,” IMAX 3D theaters accounted for 25% of the overall gross on Monday.
Discovery will provide network services for the new 3D TV network, including affiliate sales and technical support functions, as well as 3D television rights to Discovery content and cross-promotion across its portfolio of 13 U.S. television networks.
IMAX will license television rights to future 3D films, promotion through its owned-and-operated movie theaters across the U.S., and a suite of proprietary and patented image enhancement and 3D technologies.
“Sony is the only company with expertise in every part of the 3D value chain,” said Sir Howard Stringer, Chairman, CEO and President, Sony Corporation.
When asked on the conference call Tuesday about the challenge of forcing consumers to wear glasses in their home, Stringer said glasses-less 3D technology is at least 3-5-years away and that he did not see it as a problem since consumers are clearly willing to pay extra to wear glasses in movie theaters.
Sony will provide advertising/sponsorship sales support, and will seek to license television rights to current and future 3D feature films, music-related 3D content and game-related 3D content, while providing cross-promotion at retail stores.
Stringer note the great number of games already in 3D (though not necessarily stereoscopic) and said Blu-ray and the Playstation 3 video game player is proving to have been critical in the development of home 3D.
“Today’s announcement is the next step in fulfilling Discovery’s mission of providing groundbreaking content for our affiliate partners and enlightening viewers with the most immersive and realistic viewing experience available anywhere,” said Discovery Communications President and CEO David Zaslav.
He and Discovery founder John Hendricks said they it will be 5 years – 10 years before home 3D reaches the mass consumer but Hendricks said there are 5 million early adopters who can be counted on to buy into home 3D right away, and another 20 million affluent consumers who will follow shortly thereafter.