ORF cautious of HD

[BGonaSTICK]

Austrian public broadcaster ORF has no high-definition TV ambitions, at least for the time being, according to the broadcaster’s most senior manager.

“It’s a question of costs, rights, technology and design. It’s a relatively complex problem” said general director Alexander Wrabetz to Austrian newspaper Der Standard. “HDTV once per day makes relatively little sense. At the moment there is still the question of standards for set-top-boxes. One must first think through strategies and then make a decision.”

Wrabetz says it is highly unlikely that ORF will offer HD transmissions of the European Soccer Championship 2008 to be hosted by Austria and Switzerland. “That would come as a surprise, if we decided to do that after all.”

Swiss public broadcaster SRG SSR idée suisse plans to start an HD channel on December 1, on which it will transmit the Championship games next year. In Germany, public broadcasters ARD and ZDF are planning to introduce HD with their coverage of the February 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

An extensive “catch up service” such as UK public broadcaster BBC’s recently launched iPlayer, with which TV programmes can be viewed after their initial screening, is also not part of ORF’s current planning. “That does not have priority with us. If you have as much money as the BBC, it’s of course a worthy thing. The fast pace of television means that the number of people who wish to see old news or series 30 days after they’re first shown is probably very limited,” said Wrabetz, adding that a more low-key service was, however, currently being discussed. “We’re considering establishing a video-on-demand offer, but a comprehensive service such as the BBC’s is not a priority. New offers such as mobile television are more important.”

Source: Rapid TV News