Print Page 9/3/2009

ATLANTA: Gray Television mobilized DTV in Omaha, the broadcast group announced today. Gray said it commenced its first successful mobile DTV signal at WOWT-TV, its NBC affiliate in Omaha, Nebr., on July 24.

Jim Ocon, Gray vice president of technology, is working with WOWT and the Open Mobile Video Coalition on a pilot test.

“It’s like having a television in your pocket. Imagine the possibilities during a storm,” he said. “From an emergency alert perspective, I think it's going to be a must. I think this technology is going to save lives.”

Broadcasters in Raleigh, N.C. and Washington, D.C. also held mobile DTV demonstrations this year. The industry is hopeful that a free, mobile TV model will generate much-needed incremental revenue, but there are extenuating circumstances. Several competitors have a foothold in the market, including Verizon, Sprint, and MobiTV, which has more than 6 million subscribers. Qualcomm, which provides the transmission system for Verizon’s VCast, is also said to be developing its own mobile TV receiver.

The hope is, however, that the free broadcast model will surpass those fee-based services, as long as devices are brought to market soon enough. Currently, there are no mobile DTV reception devices for retail sale. The trials are being done with prototypes.

“The chips themselves, the little tuners, are actually being built as we speak,” Ocun said.

The technology is expected to be on the market by late this year or early next.
-- Deborah D. McAdams

More from TVB on Mobile TV
August 26, 2009: “FLO TV Mobile Device”
he FLO TV Personal Television, or PTV, will function specifically with FLO, a mobile DTV service based on Qualcomm’s Media FLO standard. Verizon uses it for VCast, though only a few handsets sport FLO capability.

August 26, 2009 “Free Analog Mobile TV Bodes Well for Digital Version”
The global uptake of free analog mobile TV is a good sign that the digital iteration will be successful. That’s Telegent’s takeaway from a recent survey from In-Stat forecasting that the world’s analog mobile TV user base will reach 54 million by the end of this year.

April 20, 2009: “Broadcasters Target D.C. for Mobile Consumer Trials”
The Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC) said Washington, D.C. has been selected as a product showcase market for Mobile Digital Television (DTV) technology. Additionally, four TV stations in Atlanta and Seattle will become model stations for technical research and development of device interoperability.

April 20, 2009: “City of Raleigh Initiates First Public Mobile DTV Deployment”
Officials in this Tech Triangle corridor city teamed up with WRAL-TV for the first public deployment of mobile DTV. Capital Area Transit buses will now feature real-time broadcast television. At least one bus had been converted into a rolling TV receiver as of today.

March 20, 2009: “Mobile DTV Poised for Rising Revenue Wave”
Mobile advertising revenues will hit $3.1 billion in 2013, up from $160 million last year, according to research from The Kelsey Group, a division of BIA. Over the same five-year period, Kelsey predicts revenues generated by local search advertising will grow from $20 million to $1.3 billion.

February 17, 2009: “MobiTV Tops 6 Million Subscribers”
MobiTV announced today at the Mobile World Congress event, being held in Barcelona, Spain, that it had surpassed the six million mark in subscribers for its managed mobile media services. The Emeryville, Calif.-based provider said that it attributed its growth to the increasing popularity of smart phones, consumer demand for top TV events and an increasing number of wireless plans that have bundled TV and radio services.   Print Page