According to Robert Mercer, spokesman for DirecTV, Spice HD just ate up too much room for the broadcaster’s taste.
[Spice HD was dropped] in order to reclaim capacity for other programming — a variety of sports, events and movies,” Mercer said.
But a report from TVPredictions.com, a site that covers the broadcasting industry, suspects that there was more to the move than gaining broadcast capacity.
“Since the launch of hi-def TV, experts have differed over whether the adult industry would be helped or hurt by the ultra-realistic picture,” Phillip Swan, a reporter for the site, wrote. “Some have questioned whether porn fans would want to see the facial flaws (and other shortcomings) of their favorite performers.”
According to Swan’s report, the decision to drop the Playboy-owned channel probably had more to do with the performer’s “shortcomings” than broadcast capacity.
Hi-def broadcasts do require more capacity — by some estimates as much as seven times the capacity of regular broadcasts. But, as Swan notes, the move was handled “quietly” and DirecTV has yet to remove Spice HD from promotional materials on its website.
Adding fuel to speculation that it’s the detail of the content, not the content itself that has DirecTV balking at Spice HD, is the fact that the satellite carrier continues to broadcast Spice and Playboy content.
