AMG To Become First 3-D Network

(April 14, 2009) This Variety article by David Cohen takes us into the near future of TV’s rise to a 3D network.  I know that in a world where some of us still shoot with a Sony PD-150 from time to time that this all seems lightyears ahead of us.  But it’s always good to keep one eye on the horizon.

(EXCERPT)  The seeds of the nation’s first 3-D broadcast network have been planted, repping a small step for television, but a giant leap for 3-D.

Signet Intl. Holdings, a publicly traded company led by former NBC and PBS exec Tom Donaldson and boxing promoter Ernie Letiziano, is buying AMG TV, a modestly sized net that feeds syndicated programs to some 200 terrestrial station affiliates, some of them carrying programming only part of the day.

Simultaneously, Signet has pacted with Kerner Broadcast Corp. for exclusive use of Kerner’s 3-D TV technology. Kerner, a spinoff from Lucasfilm’s Industrial Light and Magic, is also taking an equity position in Signet.

“We fully plan to have, as soon as we can acquire the library, the first full-time 3-D network in the country,” Donaldson told Daily Variety.

Donaldson said as part of the deal, the company expects to receive a capital infusion of around $14 million, to be used for personnel expansion, technical development and an advertising and PR campaign.

Currrent set-top boxes for cable and satellite aren’t equipped for 3-D, though many TVs already sold are technically 3-D ready.

To that end, Kerner plans to introduce two solutions: an add-on box for cable and satellite subscribers; and an “enhancement” that will turn any HD television into a 3-D TV for about $50, including the cost of glasses.

Glasses, hmmm.  Don’t like the sound of where that’s headed.  But anyway, for the full article check out Variety

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