Audio Video News

The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) may up the ante in the digital broadcasting game, according to a November 22 report from New York.

Among the options under consideration by the network are as many as five new digital channels, NBC Cable president David Zazlav said. "We're considering a number of digital nets," Zazlav told attendees at a New York University television conference hosted by Digital Media Wire. Last month, networks executives floated the idea that offering new channels and leveraging new technologies could increase corporate revenue by as much as 10%. Video-on-demand is one such technology.

Launching new channels could face regulatory hurdles, Zazlav explained. Cable providers typically strike package deals with broadcasters to carry several of their channels. Creating new channels would require the approval of the Federal Communications Commission, he stated.

Existing regulations regarding deals between broadcasters and cable companies were formulated a decade ago. The cable industry has long opposed any kind of "must carry" regulations, and has been very slow about adopting digital television because it is bandwidth-intensive. Carrying new NBC creations could be an eventuality forced on cable providers by rule of law.