BY MICHELLE CLARKIN
Assistant Producer, TMCnet.com™

PBS Over IP

The American Experience streamed to your desktop? Great Performances at the click of a mouse? By DTV or fiber optics, PBS is determined to reach its public via PC. Now, that's exciting enough to make even Oscar the Grouch smile.

Out With The Old, In With The New
PBS is already ahead of the game when it comes to digital delivery. Local affiliates have worked overtime readying their facilities to broadcast the much-anticipated high-resolution, wide-screen High Definition Television (HDTV) by the year 2002. This commitment is no surprise for an innovative programmer such as PBS, which is known for its propensity towards risk-taking. But the road to innovation is often paved with potholes: sometimes in the form of Jesse Helms, and sometimes in the form of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). So, while PBS fought for its immediate existence, it also made a concerted effort to stay ahead of the pack in broadband technology -- in effect, securing its relevance in the future. In doing so, PBS formed some unconventional, yet exciting, alliances.

DTV On PC
Last November, PBS and Intel teamed up to provide the first national broadcast of an enhanced digital television program over a Digital Television (DTV) signal: the Ken Burns documentary of Frank Lloyd Wright. DTV is a new broadcast format recently approved by the FCC that will, if successful, replace the current NTSC analog television broadcast signals. The format allows for the transmission of both the high-resolution and wide-screen presentation of HDTV, as well as that of Standard Definition Television (SDTV). Burn's documentary was transmitted to DTV-enabled Intel PCs, which were able to handle simultaneous transmission of companion data such as personal interviews and virtual tours. The result was a successful marriage of programming and interactive content delivered to desktop -- a venture that helped PBS bring in the dawn of the DTV-PC.

For PBS viewers, and for television viewers in general, a DTV-enabled PC may be a great solution for those unwilling to pay the hefty price for an HDTV set. After all, in compliance with FCC regulations, PBS has stated that by 2006, its analog programming will be entirely phased out. The old tube will be a thing of the past, and a change in our viewing apparatus will become a necessity. Viewers might decide a computer upgrade is a better option than a costly stand-alone HDTV set. Of course, by that point the PC and the TV could both be one: we'll have to stay tuned.

In the meantime, Intel and PBS continue their venture with DTV. At this year's NAB convention in Las Vegas, Intel announced that PBS will be the first to receive its new license for a reference design specification called Data Enhancement Framework (DEF). DEF, the new royalty-free license designed specifically for television broadcasters, will help make it possible to use HTML to combine content (text and graphics) with the video portion of a digital television signal.

The Virtual Production Studio
An announcement last week from Lucent, Metromedia Fiber Network Inc., and AboveNet signaled PBS's excursion into the world of fiber optics. Lucent and its partners are launching GeoVideo Networks Inc., the first international "Video Internet." GeoVideo Networks is designed to support real-time, two-way transmission of up to HDTV-quality video over a fiber-optic network.

Impressively, the broadband network can support optical speeds of OC-3 to OC-192 and beyond, and will also support T1/T3 and DSL configurations. A GeoVideo Browser has also been developed to allow users the flexibility to operate up to 32 active windows and manage viewing of multiple compression standards.

Top public television stations around the country have developed plans with GeoVideo Networks to utilize the network for business-to-business services and eventually station-to-viewer services. What does it mean for PBS? Well, to start with, video editors will be able to access HDTV-quality video clips and programs from other stations on the network. And, by utilizing GeoVideo Networks for both storage and delivery, programmers can cut costs and lower post-production time. The joint venture also includes plans for the stations to make their production studios available to other GeoVideo Networks customers. It seems the virtual production studio is under way.

Goodbye Analog
As PBS begins airing its first enhanced DTV programming this month (for use by its member stations), it looks like there is no turning back. The analog broadcast will soon be a thing of the past, and the post-production studio is bound for rapid change. What do curmudgeons such as Oscar the Grouch have to say about all this?

He'd like to know if someone could hook him up. With such progressive changes in broadband technology and solutions, he may never have to leave that trashcan again.

Michelle Clarkin welcomes your comments at mclarkin@tmcnet.com.