Boards: What will be the main emphasis of Microsoft TV at NAB (in the area or areas that have relevance to the commercial production industry)?

Pizzi: The emphasis of Microsoft TV at NAB will be to show continued momentum in the tools space. In the past we have had several announcements showing support for the Microsoft TV platform from many of the leading tools vendors. At NAB 2001 you will continue to see tool vendors demonstrating how their tools for enhanced TV support the Microsoft TV platform.

Microsoft TV will not have a dedicated booth at NAB, but you will be able to see tools running on the Microsoft TV platform at Chyron and others. You will also be able to see dedicated Microsoft TV demos at the Chryon booth and at the Internet theater. We will also have four speakers at the conference, demonstrating our continued support for this area.

Boards: How does this reflect what's going on in the industry -- the changes that have happened over the last year?

Pizzi: We are seeing that enhanced TV is here, it is real and moving into the mainstream. Services based on the Microsoft TV platform have recently been deployed by TV Cabo in Portugal, Thomson TAK in France and by the new UltimateTV here in the US. The momentum of enhanced TV is demonstrated by the continued and increasing support by tools vendors.

Boards: What will be the emphasis of the show in general -- what do you think most of the attendees will be looking closely at?

Pizzi:

* Terrestrial DTV Broadcast: With the US DTV rollout under continuing scrutiny, it's possible it might become the Edsel of new Millenium. This will be a topic of robust and widespread discussion at the show. Its contrast to DVB will be more stark than ever.

* Data broadcast via DTV: New standards exist for data transmission via DTV, but the ATSC modulation scheme's problems remain a vexing problem, precluding any mobile reception. Even fixed reception may require large antennae, further reducing utility. The slow rollout has already claimed one victim (Geocast) and this trend may continue.

* Interactive TV for terrestrial DTV remains an open question, the answer to which still seems years away.

* Digital Radio broadcasting is another problematic area for the US market, and this will be a topic of discussion. The solution has been perennially "just around the corner" at every NAB show for the last decade or so. New this year are the digital radio services via satellite to mobile receivers.

* The Internet continues to grow in importance for broadcasters, with broadband and wireless elements looming large. The real value of broadband to the ITV platform is not its wide bandwidth per se but its persistent connection ("always on"), allowing impulsive responses.