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CES: Bright Lights, Big Screens to Hit Las Vegas Dec. 16, 1998 Every year, the Consumer Electronics Manufacturers Association (CEMA) promises the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will feature the creme de la creme of high-tech gadgetry, and next month’s Las Vegas show is no exception. The public relations people at CEMA are promising this year’s show will be a “digital TV extravaganza.” High-definition TV has been a buzz word at past shows without any product to back it up. At last year’s show, DirecTv and Thomson Consumer Electronics Inc. demonstrated the first high-definition satellite broadcast (Satellite Business News, Jan. 14, 1998). But the 1999 CES, slated for Jan. 7 to 10, will be the first to feature high-definition sets and related products from most major manufacturers. The screens on the show floor will be buzzing, not only with the typical nature displays and other demo tapes but also with live high-definition broadcasts from CBS affiliate KLAS-Las Vegas and satellite feeds from DirecTv Inc. KLAS plans to broadcast the National Football League’s AFC divisional playoff game Jan 9. The station will also show live high-definition broadcasts each day of the show. DirecTv already offers a continuous loop of high-definition promotional programming to retailers. As a sign of the importance of the digital revolution, the CES keynote speaker, Sony Corp. of America President Howard Stringer, is slated to discuss the future of digital technology on the show’s first day. CEMA staff will also be on hand throughout the show to discuss manufacturers’ entrance into digital television. Spokesman Jim Barry will present updated retailer training seminars, and Todd Thibideaux, vice president of market research, will provide CEMA’s latest customer research on digital television. CEMA will also provide a one-stop information booth at the Las Vegas Convention Center with schedules of digital TV conferences and maps to digital displays. CES will be chock-full of high-definition TV seminars, highlighted by a digital television “Super Session” Jan. 8, moderated by CEMA President Gary Shapiro and New York Times reporter Joel Brinkley. CBS Chairman Michael Jordan is slated to keynote the panel, and several manufacturing, retail, and broadcasting executives will also participate in the discussion. The session is designed to give a general overview of the digital television roll-out from the manufacturing and broadcasting perspectives. Another seminar—”Selling and Merchandising DTV: What works and Why”—will focus on how retailers can sell digital and high-definition sets despite the lack of a variety of digital programming. Also on the retail side, CES will offer seminars on wiring high-definition displays to receive broadcast digital signals. The show will also feature seminars on the impact digital television may have on electronic commerce and uses for the IEEE 1394 digital connection. —David Connell OTHER DIGITAL TV BEATS HBO HDTV GETS READY: Titles Coming Up On HBO HDTV March 10, 1999 THE DATA HORIZON: PBS Tackles the Bandwidth Usage Question February 24, 1999 RESEARCH: The Reports Are in, But the Conclusions Are Confusing February 10, 1999   NEW FEES: There Is No Such Thing as Free Spectrum January 27, 1999   CES TV TALK: More Buzz than the Sequins on an Elvis Jacket January 13, 1999   LOCAL EFFORTS: Broadcasters Give Viewers a Push toward TV Purchase November 18, 1998   FIRSTS: Digital TV Broadcasts Hit the Airwaves November 4, 1998   THOMSON'S DBS BRAIN: Channels ARE Plentiful in New Digital TV World October 21, 1998   DECISIONS, DECISIONS: Taking the Plunge into Digital TV October 7, 1998   FIREWIRE: So the Blender Says to the Toaster, He Says... September 23, 1998 They're Here... September 9, 1998   GOT AN IDEA? E-mail it to: general.mail @satbiznews.com WANT TO SPONSOR DIGITAL TV BEAT? Call 202-785-0505 or e-mail general.mail @satbiznews.com Please direct questions about this site to general.mail@satbiznews.com q 2000 Satellite Business News Inc. All rights reserved.