Sky: 3D is 'The Icing on the Cake of HD'

Sky recently confirmed plans to launch the UK's first ever 3D TV channel next year. This announcement came in the wake of burgeoning consumer demand for the Sky+ high definition service, which has more than doubled its subscribers to 1.313m over the past year. Digital Spy caught up with Sky's director of strategic product design Gerry O'Sullivan to find out more about the company's plans for a 3D future.

What was the background to Sky getting involved with 3D?
We spent the last year really doing research and development into this and, you know, at Sky we are always innovating. We've had a number of projects running this year in the innovations streams and 3D is one that has really surprised us with the success that we have had. Early last year we started looking at producing 3D content, we did the boxing and then we started looking at different types of content. So we did football and rugby and then we were the first TV company in Europe to broadcast a live 3D TV event, which was the Keane concert from Abbey Road Studios. With each one of those, we were really surprised by the quality of the experience for viewers that we were achieving.

I remember we challenged ourselves that it had to work on our existing Sky+ HD box because we have 1.3 million customers there now and we have basically future proofed this platform so that those Sky+ HD customers will benefit from a whole range of exciting innovations that we are going to be bringing them over the next few years. To be honest, I didn't think that 3D was going to be the first of those, but we have now made the announcement that we hope to launch a channel next year. The investment we have made in our HD infrastructure has helped with making the service possible and over a number of trials this year we have come to the point where the response has been phenomenal and therefore we have decided to take the next step.

Are you talking about a positive response from consumers or from industry people?
There has been a general anecdotal response. One of the shoots we did recently was for the English National Ballet for Swan Lake which was a phenomenal shoot, we really did the classic Sky high-end broadcast there. We played it at the Hay festival, which was sponsored by Sky Arts, and we basically had customers bursting into spontaneous applause and basically saying "when can I have that? When can I get that experience in my home?" Wherever we have demonstrated the service, we have always got a phenomenal response and the response generally is "yes I want that and when can I have it?"

Many customers are yet to get on-board with high definition TV; so is there a sense that some people might be worried that you have already moved on from HD?
There is absolutely no concern about that. To make clear to you, HD is our absolute core focus, as is continuing its ongoing success. We started with a few channels and we now have 33 channels. We are also going to be launching more channels. We have had the fastest record growth in HD customers from launch only a few years ago to now 1.3 million HD customers and that is continuing to increase.

So HD is always the focus and this 3D experience is because of HD. Its piggybacking on the back of the investment we have made in HD. It is the icing on the cake of HD. But HD is always going to be our core focus and, as I said, the only reason why we can bring 3D to customers is because of HD. The experience might not be for everybody, but at Sky we are always trying to give customers choice and for those who want it the best experience possible in the home with the type of content that they are passionate about.

So in terms of the mechanics, what will customers need to get 3D for the channel next year?
Well, all those lucky 1.3 million Sky+ customers will need is a new TV. We have been working with the TV manufacturers and we know that there is a big TV replacement cycle going on and we know that there are lots of people out there that are considering buying a new TV for the home. We have already received pre-production models of 3D-ready sets from the major manufacturers who intend to launch into the UK market. Hopefully our announcement will also work to stimulate that.

So will these viewers need to use the polarising glasses?
Well I think that 3D is going to be an evolving story and we are not wedded to any particular format. But we have proven that using our Sky+ HD box you can deliver a great 3D experience by using the polarising glasses. We are effectively using the same technology and glasses that you see in the cinemas at the moment, but we keep looking at other evolving technologies and will always do so.

And what about the content? You've talked about sports and entertainment, but could 3D possibly even be used for news content?
It really is an exciting time because every shoot we have gone to we have always surprised ourselves. Anything that lends itself to great depth has always worked [with 3D]. So sports is a given, movies is a given, and we been really surprised with the results with entertainment. But the ballet for me was the complete Nirvana moment, because we ended up seeing that even with the production teams that this is a new skill set for people to understand - directors, lighting people, sound, the talents themselves - we are all learning.

With the English ballet coverage, their prima ballerina was asking to experiment with us; asking "could you get the camera to do this?" And we would try it and we were blown away with the results. We have got an exciting new television medium and we underestimate in the UK what exciting new creative talent we have here and so all the production teams I have been speaking to are very excited about it. But we are at the very early stages of a huge learning curve, so I wouldn't rule out anything and time will tell.

There has already been a big push in Hollywood towards 3D; so is that giving you confidence?
We recently got to see some footage from James Cameron's new film Avatar; it changes the game in a way as a completely new experience. Those who haven't experienced what I have experienced are still thinking of things flying over your head in some gimmicky experience; like Jaws 3D from the 1980s. We are not talking about that, we are talking about someone who has gone and made a 3D movie from scratch. It is just a real "seeing is believing" experience. You feel like you are in the movie because he has made it as a 3D movie rather than someone who has made a 2D movie and then added some special effects where some things go over your head. It is completely different. It has become a real serious medium now for the Hollywood directors and now people like Cameron and Spielberg are saying that they want to make all their movies in 3D.

So would you say that 3D has now grown up as way to improve the immersive audience experience?
Yes, totally. Hollywood filmmakers have always been striving like us to create the most amazing audience experience. Obviously there have been a lot of technical steps that have merged to enable something that is just completely groundbreaking as a user experience. We talked about the glasses but people completely forget that they are wearing the glasses after just a few minutes because they are immersed in a completely new world. It really is something quite different to what people think they know about 3D.

But how are you going to overcome some viewer's potentially negative preconceptions about 3D to encourage them to try the new service?
The 3D movie houses are doing a great job on this and there a whole load more planned. But we have always had a challenge at Sky to show these new experiences. It is challenging because a lot of them are these "seeing is believing" experiences. We laugh about it now but some years before we launched Sky+, when I told people that you could pause live TV they didn't know what I was talking about. They thought I was crazy. So we have done that with Sky+ very successfully, we have done that with HD, in which people have seen HD in stores or in other people's homes and been blown away by the quality, so we will do the same for 3D. We will be out there, we will be demonstrating it and showing it off, and hopefully people will get to experience it.

Was it quite important for Sky to be blazing the trail in the UK with 3D?
We are always leading innovation. I think what is slightly different on this is that this definitely a European if not a world exclusive. My role is always to innovate and get the best experience we can for our customers. To me it's a continuing story, we have lots more to do and 3D is just one of those things. As I said, it's just really exciting for those HD customers because they are going to benefit from all these new innovations from coming and we don't have to give them new boxes. This Sky+ HD box has really opened a door now for a whole slew of exciting innovations to come over the next few years.

So when will customers get to experience the 3D service?
I honestly couldn't say, but we are confident as we said that we are going to launch next year. I am also confident that we will now see some movement on the TV screens. We'll see, I will be listening out as much as you will. But its gathered momentum now and I hope that our announcement will show the TV manufacturers and the production houses that we are serious about this now.

By Andrew Laughlin, Digital Spy