3DTV WORLD FORUM-LONDON. Sky has no plans to offer its dedicated 3DTV channel Sky 3D as a stand-alone service, preferring instead to provide it bundled for HD subscribers. It has also, according to John Cassy, director of Sky 3D, detected evidence that some customers are upgrading in order to receive 3D.
Speaking at the opening session of the 3DTV World Forum, Cassy in addition said that by Sky’s estimates, it will be another 5-7 years before glasses-free 3DTV will be available on a mass market scale.
Kevin O’Neil, head of on demand development, Virgin Media, meanwhile revealed that 3D on Virgin Media had to date had 85,000 unique users.
Its 3D offer is primarily in movies in PPV, costing £5.99 for a 48-hour rental. This compares with £4.99 for PPV HD and £3.99 for SD movies.
O’Neil said he was of the view that the three ‘C’s of content, CPE and cost will drive 3D.
He added that research by both Virgin and Nielsen points to around 6% of viewers actively looking at buying a 3DTV set in the near future. O’Neil also confirmed that Virgin Media’s long-term strategy is to offer 3D on an on demand basis.
