FLO TV Expands Coverage

Qualcomm's FLO TV announced on Wednesday that it had expanded its coverage in 16 markets—Baltimore/Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Austin, Dallas and San Antonio, Texas; Jacksonville, Fla.; Kansas City, Mo.; the greater Los Angeles area; New York City; Oklahoma City; Orlando, Fla.; Pittsburgh and Reading, Pa.; Phoenix; and St. Louis—and is providing first-time coverage to Atlantic City, N.J., Greensboro, N.C. and Wilmington, Del.

FLO's announcement said that consumers are watching more mobile TV, and noted that industry analysts project mobile TV viewership in North America to grow from an estimated 12.7 million users in 2009 to more than 93 million by 2013. Survey results issued Wednesday by Harris Interactive and FLO TV found that 62 percent of the consumers surveyed said they either watched, or would watch, mobile TV while traveling. Also, 41 percent said the watch, or would watch, while commuting between home and work. And 45 percent of the respondents who watch, or would watch, mobile TV said they used, or would use, the service for entertainment purposes.

FLO TV experienced viewership increases of 80 percent or more during the recent Presidential Inauguration, the 2008 summer Olympics and the most recent U.S. Open golf championship.

Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.