/ 04.18.2011 12:00AM
MCV Unveils Mobile DTV Launch Plans in 32 Markets
NEW YORK and LOS ANGELE: Mobile Content
Venture today revealed its game plan for launching over-the-air mobile DTV
service. The joint venture of 12 broadcast groups said it would have service up
and running in a total of 32 markets by the end of 2011. MCV had previously
said it would get to 20 markets by the end of the year.
The additional markets comprising 21 stations are expected to include those
from Gannett, Media General, Bahakel, Belo, Raycom, Scripps, Fox, NBC and Telemundo.
NEW MARKETS:
Seattle - KING (Belo)
Miami - WTVJ (NBC) & WSCV (Telemundo)
Denver - KUSA (Gannett)
Cleveland - WKYC (Gannett)
St. Louis - KSDK (Gannett)
Charlotte - WCCB (Bahakel) & WCNC (Belo)
Raleigh - WNCN (Media General)
Kansas City - KSHB (Scripps)
Columbus - WCMH (Media General)
Las Vegas - KBLR (Telemundo)
Tulsa - KJRH (Scripps)
Montgomery - WSFA (Raycom)
ADDITIONAL STATIONS IN PREVIOUSLY
LAUNCHED MCV MARKETS:
New York - WNJU (Telemundo)
Los Angeles - KVEA (Telemundo)
Chicago - WSNS (Telemundo)
Dallas - KXTX (Telemundo)
Houston - KTMD (Telemundo)
Phoenix - KTVK (Belo)
San Jose - Telemundo 48 KSTS (Telemundo)
Last November, MCV's member companies committed to offering service in New York,
Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas, Washington D.C., Atlanta,
Houston, Detroit, Tampa, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Orlando, Portland, Cincinnati, Greenville,
S.C.; West Palm Beach, Fla.;
Birmingham,
Ala.; and Knoxville., Tenn.
MVC is one of three broadcast consortiums pushing mobile digital television.
It’s members include Belo, Gannett, Cox, E.W. Scripps, Hearst, Media General,
Meredith, Post Newsweek Stations, and Raycom--all of which are part of Pearl
Mobile DTV, a standalone entity for station groups that are not owned by
national networks. Fox, ION and NBC are also members of MVC. The group as a
whole recently announced it would use Nagra-Kudelski’s conditional access
technology, and that it was partner with MobiTV to develop consumer streaming applications.
It also cut deals with Dell and Samsung for compatible receivers.
The other major mobile DTV advocate groups are the Open Mobile Video Coalition,
the members of which overlap with the MCV, and the Mobile500 Alliance
comprising station groups not included in the MCV, though may have membership
in the OMVC.
Around 73 TV stations in 33 markets were on the air with a mobile DTV signal as
of early April. The recently OMVC predicted that two-thirds of all U.S. TV households
would have access to a signal by next April. In the meantime, PBS member
stations have agreed to help test a new Mobile Emergency Alert System with ATSC
M/H, the mobile DTV standard.
See . . .
April 13, 2011:
“PBS EAS Pilot Project to Include Mobile DTV”
PBS will start testing a next-gen emergency alert system later this year. The
system intends to feed EAS information to platforms of all types, from
cellphone, tablet computers, laptops, netbooks to in-car navigation systems.
The ATSC M/H Mobile DTV standard has also now been included.
April 7, 2011:
“Mobile DTV Group
Prediction: 71 Million Households by Next NAB”
Two-thirds of all U.S. TV households will have access to Mobile DTV within
12 months. That’s what the Open Mobile Video Coalition said today. The group
said the service is on track to reach 71 million households by next April.