Boeing to beam movies by satellite

Audiences would enjoy a much clearer image

By Mark Gregory

Boeing, the giant American aerospace company, plans to start distributing films to cinemas via satellite from next year.

It says the market could be worth $1bn a year in the United States alone.

Hollywood film studios and distribution companies spend large sums each year on copying movies onto reels of tape and then transporting them to cinemas around the world.

Every showing will be beamed live

The process has been made more complex by the vogue in developed countries for multi-screen cinemas showing several different films at the same time.

Boeing believes it can make the job of getting the movie to the screen cheaper and simpler using satellite communications.

Its plan involves compressing films into encrypted digital signals beamed by satellite either directly to the cinema, or to a ground station linked to the cinema by fibre-optic cables.

The signal is then decoded and reconstituted into a film shown in the cinema. Every performance is beamed live by satellite from an original print.

There is no copy at the cinema to get scratched or deteriorate with frequent re-showings. The potential saving in cost and logistical effort is huge.

Boeing says it plans to run a trial of distributing films by satellite to cinemas in one or two cities by the end of this year. A full service is planned to start next year.