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Audio Video News
FCC Sets Fees for New Digital Services
Jon Iverson  |  Nov 22, 1998

Back in 1996, when Congress set the timetable for digital television, one of the provisions left open for later discussion was fees the <A HREF="http://www.fcc.gov/">Federal Communications Commission</A> (FCC) would levy on broadcasters who charged for new pay-TV programming. The deadline for converting to DTV was set to be the year 2006, but how much should the government be compensated for special content such as HDTV movies, stock quotes, or other fee-based services that a broadcaster might charge for?

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Audio Video News
Home Networks Spotlighted at Comdex
Jon Iverson  |  Nov 22, 1998

Networks of computers and digital peripherals in office buildings are becoming old hat. Most organizations have hired a specialist to maintain the network and install new equipment as it comes in. Such an environment makes it possible to add complex new systems and software along with infrastructure (wiring) upgrades on a regular basis.

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Audio Video News
Chicago Hope 1st Prime-Time Drama in HDTV
 |  Nov 22, 1998

Media giant <A HREF="http://www.cbs.com/">CBS</A> continues to push the high-definition envelope with the first-ever broadcast of a prime-time dramatic series in HDTV. "The Other Cheek," the episode of <I>Chicago Hope</I> that aired last Wednesday, November 18, was produced by 20th Century Fox Television in cooperation with <A HREF="http://www.sony.com">Sony Electronics</A>' Broadcast and Professional Company using an extensive array of Sony's new HD equipment. It was relayed to 11 CBS affiliates, and it was available on the DirecTV satellite service. The program was broadcast in 1920x1080i, the highest-resolution version of HDTV.

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Audio Video News
Amazon.com Adds Video Sales
Barry Willis  |  Nov 21, 1998

The world's "number one book and CD retailer" is now in the movie business. Last week, <A HREF="http://www.amazon.com/">Amazon.com</A> officially launched its video-sales division, offering more than 60,000 titles on video tape and more than 2000 on DVD. Prices are discounted 25-30% from the suggested list price.

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Audio Video News
Biondi Departs Universal; Meet Joe Black Gets Lukewarm Reception
Barry Willis  |  Nov 21, 1998

Frank Biondi is making a very lucrative career of resigning from high-level positions. The former television executive and second-in-command at Viacom, Inc. has been forced out of the chairmanship at Universal Studios. The film-production company has not done well at the box office lately, a factor in the depressed stock price of its parent organization, Montreal-based Seagram, Ltd., which owns 80% of Universal. Former Hollywood talent agent and Creative Artists Agency co-founder Ron Meyer, who was Universal's president and chief operating officer, will take Biondi's place.

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Audio Video News
1394 Makes Big Impression at Comdex
Jon Iverson  |  Nov 15, 1998

Imagine a dozen alley cats, who would normally claw at each other incessantly, purring happily together in a box. This gives you an idea of what's so remarkable about the <A HREF="http://www.1394ta.org">1394 Trade Association</A> (TA) Theater Demo this week at <A HREF="http://www.comdex.com/">Comdex</A> in Las Vegas. Several consumer-electronics giants, such as <A HREF="http://www.sony.com">Sony</A>, <A HREF="http://www.mitsubishi.com/">Mitsubishi</A>, <A HREF="http://www.samsung.com/">Samsung</A>, <A HREF="http://www.NEC.com/">NEC</A>, and <A HREF="http://www.yamaha.com/">Yamaha</A>, as well as computer titans <A HREF="http://www.intel.com/">Intel</A>, <A HREF="http://www.compaq.com/">Compaq</A>, and <A HREF="http://www.microsoft.com/">Microsoft</A>, are pulling together to support the 1394 (FireWire) standard. It is hoped that FireWire will unite the consumer-electronics and computer worlds with a common digital interface. A recent agreement between the consumer-electronics and cable industries has established 1394 as the standard link between digital television sets and DTV set-top boxes.

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Audio Video News
DTV Invades the Desktop:
 |  Nov 15, 1998

Following up on the start of the US's digital broadcasting system on November 1, both <A HREF="http://www.panasonic.com">Panasonic Industrial Company</A> and <A HREF="http://www.philips.com">Philips Semiconductors</A> announced last week new all-format digital television (DTV) tuner/decoder cards. These cards will allow computer users to view Digital TV (DTV) signals using their desktop PCs hooked up to either a computer monitor or television set. As we reported <A HREF="XXXXX">last week</A>, this may help foster the availabilty of $500 DTV tuners for PCs by early next year.

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Audio Video News
DTV Invades the Desktop
 |  Nov 15, 1998

Following the start of the United States' digital broadcasting system on November 1, both <A HREF="http://www.panasonic.com">Panasonic Industrial Company</A> (PIC) and <A HREF="http://www.philips.com">Philips Semiconductors</A> announced last week new all-format digital television (DTV) tuner/decoder cards. These cards will let computer users view DTV signals using their desktop PCs connected to a computer monitor or television set. As we reported <A HREF="http://www.guidetohometheater.com/shownews.cgi?289">last week</A>, this could help foster the availability of $500 DTV tuners for PCs by early next year.

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Audio Video News
How the West Was Won Remastered for DVD
Lawrence B. Johnson  |  Nov 15, 1998

C<I>arroll Baker, Lee J. Cobb, Henry Fonda, Carolyn Jones, Karl Malden, Gregory Peck, George Peppard, Robert Preston, Debbie Reynolds, James Stewart, Eli Wallach, John Wayne, Richard Widmark. Directed by Henry Hathaway, John Ford, George Marshall. Aspect ratio: approximately 2.23:1. Dolby Surround. Additional language: French. 150 minutes. 1962. MGM 906292. Not rated. $29.95.</I>

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Audio Video News
PBS Chihuly Special Launches HDTV; Bodes Well for Future
Barry Willis  |  Nov 14, 1998

High-definition television will be synonymous with high-quality programming, if the nation's <A HREF="http://www.pbs.org/">Public Broadcasting Service</A> has anything to do with it. Last week, PBS launched its new age of HDTV with <I>Chihuly Over Venice</I>, a 90-minute documentary about Seattle glass artist Dale Chihuly. The beautifully filmed and expertly edited piece, assembled from 100 hours of raw footage, follows Chihuly and a crew of fellow artists through Italy, Ireland, Finland, and Mexico as they work with local glassblowers, creating sculptures and large-scale chandeliers for public places.

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