June 19, 1996
Television on the Internet could arrive in San Diego before the end
of the year, if plans of a new startup company get a clear
reception.
DigitalTalkTV Inc., a 3-month-old company founded by television
executives Ed Keyes and Tom Kihneman, has teamed with three local
cable companies to produce a program about the local technology
industry, "San Diego to the World." The program is broadcast on Cox
Communications Channel 4, Southwestern Cable Channel 5 and Daniels
CableVision Channel 37. It's being broadcast next on the cable
companies at 7 p.m. June 21 - and simultaneously on the Internet's
World Wide Web.
Right now, most people with Internet access can't fully enjoy such
programs on the Web. That's because the telephone lines that send the
Internet to their computers' modems can't transmit data fast enough
for a good video picture. They'll get sound and a halting, jerky
video that's no threat to traditional television. Only the fortunate
few with high-speed connections will see the program as it was
intended to be viewed.
But by fall, Keyes said he hopes to begin broadcasting DigitalTalkTV
through the cable companies' lines to some viewers. Cox and other
cable companies are testing so-called "cable modems," which deliver
data about 100 times as fast as regular modems. This could be
delivered to a computer or the household television.
"We're closer to the future than we believe," Keyes said, referring
to the opinion of many Internet observers that cable companies will
continue their slow, piecemeal approach to deploying cable modems.
Keyes said the cable companies are preparing to speed up their
involvement.
A number of prominent San Diegans agree, including talk show host and
former county supervisor Roger Hedgecock, who is the host of
DigitalTalkTV's programs. The cyber-aware Hedgecock maintains his own
site on the World Wide Web
http://www.rogerhedgecock.com.
Others include Mike Larsen, owner of the video production company
Lightning Corp., advertising and business marketing executive Douglas
Foxworthy, CEO of Foxworthy Inc. and technology guru, Jeff Kelley of
Spitfire Productions.
Over the past year, a number of efforts have been made to bring
television-quality video to the Internet. Software such as
Macromedia's Shockwave and VDOnet Corp.'s VDOLive bring motion and
sound to the previously static World Wide Web. However, they, like
other applications, deliver slow and spotty performance over even the
fastest conventional modems.
But the pace of activity has picked up this year. CBS announced on
June 4 that it would provide live, gavel-to-gavel coverage of the
Republican and Democratic national conventions by a network news
division on the Internet, in partnership with VDOnet.
"Where we are now with interactive technology is comparable to where
television was 40 years ago, although the new technology will develop
quicker," said Dean Daniel, director, Interactive News Services, CBS
News, who developed the project with VDOnet.
Keyes said Internet television will marry the best qualities of
conventional television broadcasting, such as its action and
immediacy, with the best qualities of the Internet, mainly the
ability to view information upon demand.
"The viewers will have access to whatever they want to watch, sports,
news - once aired, they'll always be accessible to the viewer," Keyes
said.
Another ability the Internet will give television, Keyes said, is the
ability to conduct nearly instant fact-checking, such as with
questionable statements made by politicians.
"DigitalTalkTV incorporates web researchers listening intently to
everything the guests say, calling up information from the Internet
that we display on the net and the television screen," Keyes
said.
fikes@sddt.com