Calgary Herald from Calgary, Alberta, Canada • 52

Entertainment E2 CALGARY HERALD Wednesday, October 22, 1997 TECHNOLOGY CD-quality radio almost ready to air 1 txrt 'V v. JPfe be too high for most people. "Like all technology," said McEwan Tuesday, "it will be initially expensive and some time before we get a basic kitchen-counter model. But when people hear the sound, and the demand grows, the price will come down." Wayne Stacey, a broadcast engineer who advised McEwan's digital research group, said Tuesday that the first wave of digital radio listeners will be car drivers. Existing car and home receivers can be adapted but, says Stacey, the next step will be to get car and radio manufacturers to build digital receivers into their products.

"Our research emphasized car use," said Stacey, "because it is a moving receiver and so the most difficult to perfect. Technology for other receivers will be easier and should fall into place." Drivers are an important audience for radio stations because of the huge number who tune in during the morning and late afternoon prime time listening hours when commercial radio makes most of its revenue. Cars are also the only place where radio has no competition. According to research released Tuesday, 90 per cent of consumers who plan to change their car within two years said they would want digital radio in their new car. Three-quarters said they would pay a $200 premium for a digital receiver and 44 per cent would pay $800.

Because digital signals are so versatile, researchers are also working on visual aids for drivers including electronic maps, weather information and news headlines. Ottawa Citizen CHRIS COBB Southam Newspapers TORONTO Radio with sound quality equivalent to compact discs will be available to many Canadian listeners by next year. This historic breakthrough will begin in Toronto next spring and several months later will include Vancouver and Montreal. Spillover service into communities on the fringes of those three cities will mean that more than one-third of Canada's population will have access to digital radio by the end ofi998. The signals are expected to be avail- able in other cities, including Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa by the following year.

The leap to digital radio from FM is equivalent to the difference between a vinyl recording and a CD. Digital radio's arrival was announced Tuesday by leaders of a research group comprising the CBC and the nation's most prominent commercial radio broadcaster, including Rogers, Standard Radio, CHUM, Rawlco and Shaw, who between them control most of the Canadian radio market. Michael McEwan, a former CBC executive who headed the group, said he expects digital signals to be available to most Canadians by the end of the century. The CBC plans to spend nearly $30 million over the next five years to follow the lead of the private broadcasters. About 97 per cent of Canada's 11.5 million homes have at least one radio and 80 per cent two or more.

But the initial cost of digital receivers between $800 and $1,500 will likely Dave Olecko, Calgary Herald A-Channel's chief anchor Glen Carter, left, and news director Mark Campbell pose on the station's logo. A-Channel rebounds City's newest TV station has learned a few lessons From page El Tim 'n' Jerry: Allen was obsessed ing his Calgary debut, but he kept his cool and filled the air time. Carter is philosophical: "In this business, things don't always go right. It's a mark of a professional to be able to handle it when things go badly. "This week," he says, "our systems are working, there's a high level of confidence and we're all more relaxed." Smooth technology might be the most obvious change, but Campbell says a more significant shift is that the staffers he hired from out of town are becoming Calgarians, more in touch with the city and newly aware of local issues.

Formerly a Torontonian, Campbell says, "It's amazing how quickly you can get embraced by this city. The quality of life is second to none. "We're becoming more involved in the community." Campbell says A-Channel was first with several police stories recently, along with a report on a psychic allegedly bilking senior citizens. The station hasn't done audience measurements, so there's no news yet about its ratings performance. A new "sweeps" period begins across Canada Thursday and lasts till the end of November.

Some time in December, broadcasters will get their first report card of how A-Channel has been received by viewers, for its locally produced programs, series reruns and nightly Hollywood movies. The A-Channel control room needed a five-day rewiring job to accommodate the old technology, but at least it works. News and entertainment shows are much smoother these days. So what's the worst thing that's happened this week? Two camera operators collided on the Monday night sports show, prompting a chuckling commentator to say, "Cool bumper A-Channel's bumpy rides are inevitable, Campbell says, because the station is still a work in progress. Sony's equipment package is only about 80-per-cent installed, and the electronics corporation is also busy supplying new cable channels, including CTVNewsi.

"Sony is trying to find a solution to the software problem," Campbell says. He expects everything won't be in place until the new year, when his newsroom hopes to be back using a hard drive instead of videotape for news. This time, however, the 82-member newsroom will try some dry runs with the sophisticated system before betting the farm on it. "It was painful," recalls Glen Carter, the 6 p.m. anchor who presided over the first newscast.

"We didn't expect it to be as rough as it was but it made us all the more determined to get it right." The 20-year TV news veteran, who moved here from Ottawa, was left high and dry by the equipment failures dur BOBBLAKEY Calgary Herald Bruised but not beaten by a disaster-prone launch, the A-Channel goes into its second month pumped with the optimism of a survivor. Calgary's newest TV station has learned a few lessons. Staff members are joking and relaxing at A-Channel's downtown headquarters, more than they dared to during the first week after the Sept. 20 startup. On the flagship 6 p.m.

news show that day known to staffers as Black Monday news clips vanished, on-air people scrambled to improvise and technicians struggled with untested, multimillion-dollar equipment that let them down. 7 "It was just atrocious," concedes A-Channel news director Mark Campbell. "The stories just evaporated from the hard drive." He's referring to a leading-edge system of digital, computer-based video storage that's technologically ahead of what's used practically everywhere else in North America. A-Channel backed off from the sparkling innovation and this week is using old-fashioned videotape for storing and editing news stories, just like its competitors CFCN, Calgary 7 and CBC. vision president Barry Thurston, whose division sold the syndication rights to Seinfeld.

"I don't think there's any question this has been a win-win situation for the stations who bought both shows and for the distributors of those shows." Home Improvement and Seinfeld also share fortuitous timing, given that broadcasters must fight harder to retain viewers because of cable and other viewing options, making such enduring franchises more elusive and thus more valuable. The ongoing popularity of both programs set against sums the networks pay for modestly rated shows or even failed ones provides some justification for the astronomical salaries. Ratings usually decline as series age, but Seinfeld and Home Improvement still rank No. 2 and 5, respectively, among all prime-time series. Small wonder then that Disney as owner of both Home Improvement and ABC would ante up to keep Allen.

Seinfeld, meanwhile, will decide in the next few months whether to return for another year, the show's ninth. Should he do so, will Allen's contract provide negotiating ammunition? "I don't think you need (to do) that," Shapiro said. "You just sit down and try to evaluate a show's worth to the (network's) schedule." So goes the saga of "Tim and Jerry," television's most profitable serial. Home Improvement again won the battle ratings-wise, but the competition diminished its audience by nearly 20 per cent, allowing Seinfeld to assume the mantle of TV's No. 1 comedy a title the series "about nothing" has retained ever since.

Surrendering that ranking didn't sit well with Allea Sources say the comic became "obsessed" with Seinfeld, wanting to equal or surpass the show and its star in terms of commerce because his series has been denied commensurate critical recognition. Allen has lamented that Home Improvement is often depicted as "some 600-pound gorilla knocking off these wonderful, eclectic shows" like Frasier and Seinfeld. "It's no coincidence Tim Allen has been as successful as he's been in all these different media," said Allen's manager, Richard Baker, alluding to his best-selling books and movies such as Toy Story and The Santa Clause. "He likes to succeed in everything that he does, whether it's prime-time television or car racing." Regarding the Seinfeld negotiations, Baker added, "Any time a performer raises the bar to new salary levels, it sets a new standard It's a typical process. Jerry did pave the way, the same way that Jim Carrey paved the way for superstar salaries in the movie business." Such programs "come along once in a decade," said Columbia TriStar Tele 31.8 MILLION COPIES SOLD Elton's song for Diana is biggest selling single John said the figures were "simply staggering" and he was "completely thrilled." The artists' royalties, Mercury Records' slice of the profits, most of the retailers' share and even the value-added tax will go to the Diana, Princess of Wales, Memorial Fund set up to benefit the charities Diana worked for.

of the record had been shipped around the world, overtaking Bing Crosby's White Christmas, which has sold an estimated 30 million copies worldwide since its release 55 years ago. In the days after Diana's Aug. 31 death, John and lyricist Bernie Taupin rewrote their 1970s song, originally dedicated to Marilyn Monroe, to perform at Diana's funeral. The Associated Press LONDON Just 37 days after its release, Candle In The Wind '97 Elton John's tribute to the Princess of Wales has been declared the world's biggest-selling single recording. The Guinness Book of Records said Tuesday that nearly 31.8 million copies The Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists Six 111 AX super-science films now playing! Take your family to IMAXTheatre and 'breakthrough' into the fascinating world of science! Celebrate Science and Technology Week! The Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists is hosting this fabulous and fun film festival at IMAXTheatre! 001 HYING Hon A SCIENCE FILM FESTIVAL Playing at IMAXTheatre until October 26! Only IMAX can take you to see the smallest particle on explore the natural wonders of the to the farthest reaches of space.

Experience six super-science films with IMAX Theatre's giant 12 storey screen and 15,000 watt IMAX Digital Sound. Cosmic Voyage A journey through space and time. Antarctica Explore the bottom of the Earth. Secret of Life on Earth An IMAX natural history experience. The Living Sea Celebrate the world ocean.

Storm Chasers Follow the people who follow the storms. Whales Witness the grace and grandeur of Whales. 1 WEDNESDAY I THURSDAY I FRIDAY 1 SATURDAY SUNDAY October 22 October 23 October 24 October 25 October 26 only SHQW.NGS ONIY NCrN Noon 5HOWINGS ONLY CosmfcNrtayage 1:00 pm (weekends) Cosmic Voyage The Living Sea Storm Chasers Whales The Living Sea 1:15 pm (weekdays) 2:00 pm (weekends) The Living Sea Storm Chasers Antarctica Secret of Life Storm Chasers onEarth (weekdays) 3:00 pm (weekends) Stormchasers Antarctica Whales CcomicVbyage Antarctica (weekdays) 4:00 pm ZZZZZIZZIZZI The Living Sea Whales Wha! STErtf 7:00 pm Secret of Lite Secret olUe Secret of Life onEartht Storm Chasers on Earth Storm Chasers onEartfit CosnncVbyaget Antarctica! Cosmic Ntoyagef Antarctica Cosmic toyagef 8:30 pm ThebvingSea Whales The living Sea Whales The Living Sea Calgary Herald Book your seats now! Tickets available at Child $450 Senior $550 CALGARY Shell and special thanks to all our other industry sponsors! SPECIAL FAMILY SCREENING PRICE Special weekend shows (10am, I lam, noon, 4pm 5pm) fxSt 1 2 for a family of fourt tSpeca! guest speakers at 7pm 830pm shows! Special Festival Pricing Adult Single feature admission $650 DoubfewtUiEcrrore: Admission to each film $5.00 Theatre Box Office or Charge-By-Phone at 974-4646. $450 $4.00.