As mobile-first consumption reshapes the media landscape, broadcasters must transform their workflows to meet the demands of a digital-native audience. Those who innovate today will define the future of news tomorrow.

The news industry is experiencing a profound transformation as mobile-first content consumption takes center stage. Audiences increasingly rely on their smartphones for real-time updates, pushing broadcasters to rethink traditional workflows that were once designed exclusively for linear television. This shift is not merely a change in platform; it's a redefinition of how news is created, distributed, and experienced.

The Rise of Mobile-First News Consumption
Mobile-first consumption has been accelerating for years, and recent data underscores its dominance. In the last quarter of 2024, mobile devices (excluding tablets) generated 62.5% of global website traffic. In the United States, mobile accounted for 65.8% of all digital ad spending in 2024, highlighting the clear shift toward mobile platforms. For news organizations, this represents both a challenge and an opportunity.

Major networks are making significant investments to stay competitive. For example, CNN invested $70 million into its digital transformation, prioritizing mobile-friendly, on-demand content. This trend is driven by a younger, mobile-first generation of news consumers who expect instant access to personalized, bite-sized content.

Meeting these expectations requires more than just repurposing linear TV content; it demands rethinking the entire content lifecycle—an overhaul that prioritizes speed, platform optimization, and audience engagement.

Overcoming Challenges with Legacy Workflows
Adapting to mobile-first news consumption is not a simple task. Traditional broadcast workflows are heavily optimized for large-screen, scheduled programming. In contrast, mobile consumption demands content that is easily reformatted, quickly distributed, and personalized for individual viewing habits.

The challenge lies in transforming legacy workflows that are often siloed and rigid. In the past, content was produced for a single format and distributed to a single platform. Today, audiences expect content to be available across multiple platforms in a variety of formats, including vertical video optimized for smartphones. For broadcasters to remain relevant in this rapidly changing, mobile-first era, they must adapt to efficiently reformatting and delivering content in real-time.

One significant barrier to this adaptation is the segmentation of content across different departments and platforms that exist within news production organizations. Traditional newsrooms often maintain very separate teams and process for linear broadcasting from digital production, resulting in duplicated efforts and slower distribution speeds.

To truly embrace mobile-first strategies, news organizations must break down these silos, enabling seamless content flow from creation to distribution. This approach not only accelerates time-to-market but also enhances audience reach by ensuring the efficient optimization of content for every screen. Broadcasters which fail to transform risk losing their competitive edge, especially as younger audiences continue to embrace mobile-first habits.​

The Role of AI in Modernizing News Workflows
Artificial intelligence is emerging as a critical tool in modernizing news workflows. Through automation, AI enables broadcasters to optimize content for various platforms without the need for manual intervention. This capability is crucial for keeping up with the pace of mobile consumption.

One key area where AI is driving innovation is in content personalization. Machine learning algorithms can analyze audience behavior and preferences to deliver targeted news updates, ensuring that stories are relevant and engaging. Furthermore, AI-driven automation can reformat content dynamically—whether it's vertical video for mobile or curated feeds for personalized viewing experiences.

For example, AI can identify trending topics and automatically curate video snippets from existing longer-form video, optimized for mobile consumption. This reduces the time required for manual editing and accelerates the speed at which breaking news reaches audiences anytime on any device. In an era where immediacy is critical, this capability is redefining what it means to be first with the story.

AI is also instrumental in multilingual distribution, automatically translating and reformatting content for different regions and demographics. This enables global reach with localized precision, ensuring that audiences receive news in their preferred language and format almost instantaneously.

The Shift Toward Vertical Video
One of the most significant transformations in mobile-first news consumption is the rise of vertical video. Traditionally, news content was produced in landscape format, optimized for television screens. However, as mobile devices have become the primary medium for news consumption, vertical video is rapidly emerging as the preferred format.

Vertical video is not just a change in aspect ratio; it represents a shift in audience behavior. Mobile users expect to engage with news content seamlessly as they scroll through social media feeds and news apps. This expectation is pushing broadcasters to rethink content strategies, ensuring stories are not only mobile-optimized but also immersive and interactive.

Leading news organizations are experimenting with mobile-first video formats, creating live streams, interactive news updates, and social-first clips designed for vertical consumption. This evolution marks a departure from traditional broadcast storytelling, moving toward dynamic, real-time engagement with audiences.

The demand for instant, mobile-optimized news is only expected to grow, and vertical video stands at the forefront of that shift. For newsrooms willing to adapt, this format offers unprecedented opportunities to engage viewers directly where they are - on their mobile screens.

Embracing the Mobile-First Era
The mobile-first era is not merely a trend; it is a redefinition of how news is consumed, shared, and trusted. Broadcasters that can seamlessly adapt to these new demands— producing vertical video, personalizing content, and optimizing distribution – will not just remain competitive; they will lead the next wave of media evolution. The path forward requires more than adaptation; it demands innovation, foresight, and a willingness to break from traditional molds.

In this mobile-centric landscape, those who prioritize mobile platform-native storytelling and agile content strategies will set the standard for the future of news. The question is no longer whether mobile-first consumption will dominate, it's about who will lead the revolution. For forward-thinking newsrooms, the opportunity to define the next era of media is here, and the time to act is now.

NEEDHAM, Mass.—With the smartphone business recovering slower than expected, International Data Corporation (IDC) has revised its worldwide smartphone forecast downward and is now predicting that global shipments of smartphones will decline 1.1% in 2023 to 1.19 billion units. Previously it had forecast 2.8% growth for 2023. 

IDC’s latest Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker forecast noted that the market continues to suffer from weak demand and ongoing macroeconomic challenges. Real market recovery is not expected to occur until 2024, when IDC expects 5.9% year-over-year growth followed by low single-digit growth leading to a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.6%. 

"With increasing costs and ongoing challenges in consumer demand, OEMs are quite cautious about 2023,” said Nabila Popal research director with IDC's Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. “While there is finally some good news coming out of China with the recent reopening, there is still a lot of uncertainty and lack of trust, which results in a cautious outlook. However, we remain convinced the global market will return to growth in 2024 once we are past these short-term challenges as there is a significant pent up refresh cycle in developed markets as well as room for smartphone penetration in emerging markets to fuel stable long-term growth."

The researchers noted that 5G continues to grow and will account for 62% of smartphones shipped worldwide in 2023, rising to 83% by 2027. Market momentum also continues to build around foldable phones as the segment is expected to grow to nearly 22 million units this year – a 50% increase while the overall market contracts. This segment will continue to grow as costs decrease and more OEMs launch this form factor, as we have seen this week with multiple Android foldable launches at Mobile World Congress. 

Finally, smartphone average selling price (ASP) that saw rapid growth over the last few years (from $334 in 2019 to $415 in 2022) will begin to decline starting in 2023 and is expected to reach $376 by end of the forecast period.

"2023 is set to be a year of two halves with the first half piggybacking off the downhill slide from the fourth quarter of 2022," said Anthony Scarsella, research director with IDC's Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. "Most regions will face double-digit declines in the first half of the year, make a turn into positive territory in the third quarter, and then boost into double-digit growth in the last quarter of the year. We expect the influx of premium flagships that typically launch in the third and fourth quarters will keep the full year decline from being worse."

More details and data are available here.  

NEEDHAM, Mass.—An updated forecast for the worldwide smartphone market from International Data Corporation (IDC) is showing a larger decline in global smartphone shipments, with IDC projecting that global shipments will decline by 9.1% in 2022, a reduction of 2.6 percentage points from the previous forecast, to about 1.24 billion units in 2022. 

While a recovery of 2.8% is still anticipated in 2023, IDC did reduce its 2023 smartphone forecast by roughly 70 million units, given the ongoing economic worries and their impact on demand, the researchers said. 

"We believe the global smartphone market will remain challenged through the first half of 2023, with hopes that recovery will improve around the middle of next year and growth across most regions in the second half," said Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC's Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. "Rising costs are an obvious concern for the smartphone market and adjacent consumer technology categories, but we believe most of this reduced demand will be pushed forward and will support global growth in late 2023 and beyond. A device refresh cycle continues to build in many challenged emerging markets while developed markets have offset rising costs with increased promotional activity, more attractive trade-in offers, and extended financing plans. This has supported growth in the high-end of the market despite the economic headwinds."

5G continues to build out globally and will account for just over half of smartphones shipped worldwide in 2022, rising to 80% by 2026.

In addition, market momentum continues to build around foldable phones. While this category is only about 1-2% of the global market in 2022, it still accounts for roughly 15-16 million smartphones. This number will only grow as costs decrease and more OEMs get behind the form factor transition, IDC said. 

IDC is also predicting that global shipments of Android phones will grow by 3.1% to 1,036.9 million units in 2023 and hit 1,145.7 million by 2026.

Shipments of phones using Apple iOS will increase by 1.3% to 233.5 million units in 2023 and grow to 247.5 million by 2026

"Despite the market slowdown, average selling prices (ASPs) continue to grow as consumers opt for premium devices that can last three to four years as refresh rates elongate in both developed and emerging markets," said Anthony Scarsella, research director with IDC's Worldwide Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. "Smartphone ASPs are expected to grow for the third consecutive year as average selling prices will reach $413, up 6.4% from $388 in 2021. The last time the market witnessed ASPs surpass $400 was in 2011 ($425), when the market displayed over 60% shipment growth. Moreover, iOS unit share will reach 18.7% (the highest of any forecast year), which is a driving force behind the high ASP growth we currently see in 2022."

BOSTON—Global smartphone shipments fell 9% in Q3, 2022 compared to a year earlier but Apple had a strong quarter, boosting its share of the global business to 16%, the highest level in 12 years, Strategy Analytics reports.

Strategy Analytics is also predicting global smartphone shipments to decline by 9% to 10% for all of 2022. 

As global smartphone shipments fell 297 million units in Q3 2022, Samsung topped the global smartphone market with a healthy 22% share in Q3 2022 and Apple landed in second place, with Xiaomi, OPPO (including OnePlus) and vivo rounding out the top five smartphone providers. 

“Global smartphone shipments fell -9% YoY to 297 million units in Q3 2022,” said Linda Sui, senior director at Strategy Analytics. “This is the fifth consecutive quarter of annual decline by smartphone volumes. Inventory adjustments and geopolitical issues adversely impacted smartphone market in the third quarter of this year. Meanwhile, unfavorable economic conditions continued to weaken consumers’ demand on smartphones and other non-essential products.”

“We estimate Samsung shipped 64 million smartphones and topped the global smartphone market with a healthy 22% share in Q3 2022,” added Woody Oh, director at Strategy Analytics. “It slightly outperformed the total market and declined -7% YoY by shipment volumes. Demand tilted towards low- cost A and M series, while the newly launched Z Fold 4 and Z Flip 4 help the company strengthen the leadership in foldable segment. Apple shipped 49 million iPhones worldwide, up +6% YoY, for 16% global market share in Q3 2022. This is the highest third quarter market share for Apple over the past twelve years, at the expense of leading Chinese brands who are hampered by the sluggish performance in both home and overseas market. Apple had a good quarter, led by newly launched iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, while the demand for iPhone 14 remained mixed.”

“Xiaomi shipped 40.5 million smartphones and took third place with nearly 14% global market share in Q3 2022, slightly up from one year ago,” reported Yiwen Wu, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics. “Xiaomi outperformed other major Chinese brands and registered -8% annual decline rate, thanks to the well diversified regional footprint. However, Xiaomi continued suffering from the geopolitical uncertainties in Europe. China and India market also delivered a mixed bag for the Chinese brand. OPPO (OnePlus) held fourth spot and captured 10% global smartphone market share during Q3 2022. Vivo stayed fifth with 9% global smartphone market share in Q3 2022. OPPO (OnePlus) and Vivo both posted a double digit annual decline rate and lost ground in most markets, as 4G and 5G competition intensified sharply in China and other markets.”

Looking forward, Sui said, “we forecast global smartphone shipments to decline -9% to -10% YoY in full-year 2022. Geopolitical issues, economy downturn, energy shortage and price hike, exchange rate volatility, and Covid disruption will continue to weaken consumer demand during the last quarter of 2022. All these headwinds would continue through the first half of next year, before the situation eases in the second half of 2023. Samsung and Apple would continue to outperform and remain top two places. Chinese brands need to stabilize the performance in China market and explore new growth engine to terminate the falling track.”

NEEDHAM, Mass.—The International Data Corporation (IDC) is predicting rapid growth in the worldwide shipments of foldable phones, including flip and fold form factors, with 13.5 million units shipped in 2022, up 66.6% from the 8.1 million units shipped in 2021. 

By 2026, an updated IDC forecast is projecting that foldable phone shipments will reach 41.5 million units in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.7% from 2022 to 2026.

That still represents, however, a relatively small share of the overall smartphone global market. The IDC is predicting that foldable phone shipments will comprise only 1.1% of the total market in 2022 and grow to 2.2% of global shipments of 1,458.8 million units.  

The healthy growth of the foldable market has been led by Samsung with its Flip and Fold lineup, IDC researchers noted. They expect the newly updated models will outperform their predecessors and grab more consumer attention in the category. 

The IDC also expects that the commercial segment of the market remains ripe for utilizing foldables as two-in-one devices that can replace both a phone and a tablet. 

In 2023, IDC is forecasting a 55.1% growth for foldables with continued double-digit growth throughout the forecast period.

"The recent launch of the Galaxy Z Flip 4 and Fold 4 will once again shine a spotlight on the entire category as Samsung continues to be the gold standard for foldable devices in the market," said Anthony Scarsella, research manager with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. "The new launches from Samsung have brought incremental but critical improvements over their predecessors. The success of these devices should be a strong indicator of how foldables will evolve and capture consumers moving forward. While the price remains a pain point for consumers, the $999 starting price may be accepted by consumers given that most consumer goods have seen price increases due to inflation in 2022."

BURBANK, Calif. & AUSTIN, Texas—Otter Network is collaborating with Singular.live on graphics for multi-camera livestream productions. Singular’s On Device mode will allow users of Otter Director, a software suite that enables any iPhone or Android device to stream or record footage on up to four devices simultaneously anywhere in the world, to stream events with professional, studio-quality graphics.

Otter Director delivers studio features that enable seamless switching of camera angles at the touch of a button, with instant cloud access for collaboration. Singular’s graphics, rendered directly on a device running Otter Director, can be customized with an audience-specific look and feel, providing technical directors and producers with new levels of design customization. Developed initially for live music capture, Otter Director has been used for rapid content creation for ad agencies, brands, and venues alike, the company said.

“The value of delivering high-quality video productions with mobile devices ultimately begs for professional on-air graphics that can complete the look of a production,” said Nick Tangborn, co-founder and CEO of Otter Network. “We have created Otter Director as a tool for professionals who want to leverage lower-cost capabilities for producing high-quality work, and the Singular team complements our vision perfectly.”

Otter has recently used Otter Director for productions with 3TEN Austin City Limits Live, The Salt Lick, and Lamborghini Austin. 

“We see the integration of Singular into Otter Director as a sign of the mobile generation of content creators implementing broadcast-quality solutions, right in the palms of their hands,” said Andrew Heimbold, CEO of Singular.live. “Providing creatives with richer toolsets, in a cloud-agnostic way, is the core of our work with Otter Network.” 

BOSTON—Global smartphone shipments fell -11% YoY to 314 million units in Q1 2022 but Samsung topped the global smartphone market with a healthy 24% share, the highest first quarter performance over the past five years, reports Strategy Analytics. 

Apple was in second place with 18% share. Xiaomi, OPPO (including OnePlus) and vivo stayed in the top five list.

“Global smartphone shipments fell -11% YoY to 314 million units in Q1 2022,” said Linda Sui, senior director at Strategy Analytics. “This is the third consecutive quarter of annual decline by smartphone volumes. Factory constraints and component shortages continued to restrict smartphone supply in the first quarter of this year. Meanwhile, unfavorable economic conditions, geopolitical issues, as well as COVID-19 disruption (China rolling lockdown etc.) continued to weaken consumers’ demand on smartphones and other non-essential products.”

“We estimate Samsung shipped 75 million smartphones and topped the global smartphone market with a healthy 24% share in Q1 2022,” added Woody Oh, Director at Strategy Analytics. “It is the vendor’s highest first quarter performance by market share since 2017. Demand was strong for the newly launched flagship Galaxy S22 series, especially the higher-priced S22 Ultra model. Meanwhile, Samsung continues to ramp up mass market A series in multiple markets. Apple shipped 57 million iPhones worldwide, up +1% YoY, for 18% global marketshare in Q1 2022. Apple had a good quarter, led by iPhone 13 series and the newly launched iPhone SE (2022), which starts to become a volume driver in lower segment. Apple also captured the highest first quarter market share since 2013, at the expense of leading Chinese brands who are hampered by the sluggish home market.”

For the full year the company is forecasting a slight decline of 1% to 2% in 2022, said Sui. “This year will be a tale of two halves,” she said. “Geopolitical issues, component shortages, price inflation, exchange rate volatility, and Covid disruption will continue to weigh on the smartphone market during the first half of 2022, before the situation eases in the second half due to Covid vaccines, interest rate rises by central banks, and less supply disruption at factories.”

BOSTON—New research from Strategy Analytics finds that Samsung was the top smartphone vendor in North America in Q3 2021 narrowly beating out Apple for the top spot. 

Both Samsung and Apple grew their market share during the quarter. 

The data, which is important for media companies developing apps and digital products, showed that the Top-5 smartphone vendors by shipments for the region captured 93% of total shipments to the region. 

The shipment numbers also showed that consumers are increasingly slow in upgrading their phones. North American smartphone shipments were down 7% annually in the third quarter of 2021 compared to a year earlier.

Samsung led in North American smartphone shipments with a 38% market share, followed by Apple (37%) and Motorola (10%). 

All three vendors showed gains in the quarter, in part because LG has shuttered its smartphone unit. Both Samsung and Apple grew their market share by five percentage points while Motorola saw a two percentage point increase.  

“Samsung is the leading smartphone vendor in North America, with annual shipment growth of 5 percent,” says Ken Hyers, director at Strategy Analytics. “Samsung has clawed back share following three quarters when it was topped by Apple. Samsung has capitalized on the collapse of LG, which in the year-ago quarter held a 14 percent share in the North American region but has shuttered operations from Q3 2021. The combination of leading technology and a broad product portfolio have made Samsung smartphones, such as its premium Galaxy S21 series and affordable A-series the most popular Android devices in the region.”

“Apple captured 2nd place in smartphone shipments in the North America region in Q3 2021,” added Linda Sui, senior director at Strategy Analytics. “Apple’s newly introduced iPhone 13 5G smartphones drove a late Q3 2021 surge in shipments, which along with its older iPhone 12 models drove positive annual growth of 9 percent annually in the 3rd quarter of 2021. Apple’s growth would have been even stronger were it not for component shortages and manufacturing disruption in Asia that limited its ability to meet demand for its new iPhone 13 series smartphones.”

“Samsung also faced shortages that limited its ability to meet strong customer demand,” noted Woody Oh, Director at Strategy Analytics. “Samsung’s newest foldable smartphones, the Galaxy Flip3 and Fold3 were very strong sellers for the company. In fact, the Flip3 barely missed being its 5th best-selling smartphone in North America in Q3 2021, held back only by the company’s inability to produce as many of the devices as customers wanted, due to component shortages. Samsung expects a big quarter in Q4 2021 for its foldables with major promotions planned for Black Friday in North America which it predicts will fuel strong sales of the Flip3 and Fold3.”

BERLIN—Consuming on-demand entertainment with mobile devices is on the rise worldwide, with more than eight in 10 respondents to a new survey reporting having used their smartphone to stream the same amount or more video content during the era of COVID-19-related social distancing.

The findings, part of global app marketing analytics platform Adjust’s “The Mobile Streaming 2021 Report,” are based on consumer research into the entertainment consumption patterns of 7,000 people in the U.S., U.K, Germany, Turkey, Japan, Singapore, Korea and China.

A total of 52.5% reported streaming more video content on their smartphones while social distancing, and 12% said they streamed less. Age did not appear to dissuade streaming entertainment on smartphones. According to the report, 90% of users 55 years old and older in China and Turkey said they streamed via their phone every day or at least more than once a week.

Other key smartphone/streaming content findings:

• Users in China (94%) and Turkey (92%) stream most often—every day to once a week. That compares to 64% in the U.S., 57% in Japan and 46% in the U.K.
• Across all generations and regions, users stream for at least an hour per session. By generation, streaming time per session is highest among millennials (94 minutes), Gen Zers (90 minutes) and Boomers age 55 and older (65 minutes).  
• Spending on on-demand entertainment services and streaming is substantial, with the highest average spending being done in Korea ($42.68). This compares to $33.58 in the U.S. and $34.82 in the U.K. 

The report also found a high propensity to use mobile phones while watching television. On the whole,  75% said they use their phones while watching TV. In Singapore and China, 85% do so, while 83% of respondents in the U.S. reported watching TV and using smartphones at the same time, according to the report.

As to what smartphones were used for while watching TV, the findings reveal social media topping the list at 65%, followed by banking (55%) and gaming (45%). Food delivery ranked high in China (65%), Korea (37%) and Singapore (48%), it said.

The report can be downloaded from the Adjust website.

Whether it’s on your phone, computer or television, odds are you’ve used an online streaming service to keep yourself entertained during quarantine. Streaming services such as Netflix and HBO have even released some of their shows and movies at no cost, allowing everyone to escape reality for a few hours.

If you’ve recently splurged on a streaming subscription, you’re not alone. Netflix reported it gained an additional 15.8 million subscribers over the past few months, bringing the total number of Netflix memberships to 183 million.

But could all those hours of streaming impact your energy bill? And does streaming your favorite movie harm the environment?

FROM DATA CENTERS TO YOUR LIVING ROOM

While movies and videos only take seconds to view, they require energy to stream from your smart devices. To watch your favorite shows, content travels from data centers, through a network of cables and routers, and consumes energy from your device of choice (smart phone, laptop, gaming console, etc.).

There have been a number of claims (stemming primarily from a 2019 report from The Shift Project) that the emissions generated by watching Netflix for 30 minutes is the same as driving 4 miles in your car.

However, many disagree with these numbers. The figures reported above are nearly 800 times larger than those reported by Netflix and almost double the estimated electricity consumed by data centers globally.

In fact, streaming services (including Netflix and YouTube) use a different type of data center called a Content Delivery Network (CDN), which requires less electricity than regular data centers. CDNs simply copy information (such as a movie on Netflix) instead of using energy to solve complex equations or search through massive amounts of information.

Additionally, it’s important to note that data centers, even the large ones that consume massive amounts of energy, only produce 0.3% of the world’s total carbon emissions.

THE EFFICIENCY OF STREAMING DEVICES

Streaming videos does consume electricity, meaning your all-day Netflix binge will likely impact your energy bill. However, streaming may be one of the more energy-efficient activities despite its electricity consumption.

According to findings published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology, the amount of electricity required to stream videos has been cut in half every two years since 2000. This is in part due to the increasing efficiency of streaming devices. For example, consumers tend to replace smart phones more frequently than devices such as computers—and these smart phones account for more than 70% of YouTube videos streamed each day.

Of course, smart devices vary in energy-efficiency. Streaming Netflix on a gaming console may consume more energy than using an Apple TV. In fact, studies show cable boxes consume way more electricity compared to streaming devices—meaning consumers who use streaming devices may see a lower rate on monthly energy bills.

WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?

So, will binge-watching your favorite Netflix show hurt your wallet and the environment? Not in comparison to many other energy-consuming practices.

The truth is streaming content consumes energy—there’s no way around that. However, smart devices tend to be more energy-efficient than cable boxes and gas-powered cars. And that energy efficiency will likely result in lower energy bills each month compared to what bills could be when using more energy-intensive devices.

In terms of the environment, the current climate crisis means we should continue to work towards decarbonizing all aspects of society. The major energy-consumers are large corporations, factories and big data centers. However, cutting back on the amount of electricity you consume each day is a simple way you can help lessen the impacts of global warming.

In all, watching videos on Netflix and YouTube should not break the bank during quarantine—and popular streaming devices will likely continue to increase in efficiency in coming years. Just be sure to turn those videos off before you fall asleep at night.

Caitlin Cosper is a writer within the energy and power industry. Born in Georgia, she attended the University of Georgia before earning her master’s in English at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

This story was originally posted on SaveOnEnergy.

PALISADES, N.Y.—Texans take their high school football seriously, so much so that regional sports network Fox Sports SW features two Friday night programs tracking the action across the entire state. But in a place the size of Texas, which usually will feature more than 1,000 different high school football games each week, providing in-depth coverage proved a difficult task.

Fox Sports SW’s solution? Working with the Video Call Center to conduct high-quality interviews with coaches after marquee games over their smartphones from the panhandle to Dallas live on air without deploying a remote production crew.

“Three years ago we would have one game of the week and we would send a camera crew and reporter out to one game,” said Jason Walsh, executive producer at Fox Sports SW. “Technology has changed and we now send seven or eight crews out per week to cover teams. Trying to cover seven or eight teams out of what is probably 1,200 on any given week is a very small sample size. This VCC technology allowed us to be anywhere.”

Specifically, VCC’s service is essentially the intermediary between Fox Sports SW’s “Football Friday” program and the coaches. It does so by monitoring a number of games going on across the state that “Football Friday” is interested in covering. When the outcome is determined, VCC reaches out to the winning coach via text to establish a connection through technology they call “Stage Door,” only requiring a cell or Wi-Fi signal. VCC’s “call producers” help the coach frame the shot, work with lighting and maximize the connection on their smartphone or computer system.

When it’s ready to go live, the VCC has a connection in the Fox Sports SW control room that serves as both an input and output for an HD-SDI signal with embedded audio that can be put on air like a traditional remote. VCC touts that it provides high-quality images with very little latency for a “close to real-time” connection. The technology also enables the interview subject to see real-time return video, allowing for coaches to comment on specific highlights.

“Effectively, we’re giving them access to content they wouldn’t have,” said Larry Thaler, CEO of VCC.

The VCC technology works with iPhone and Android devices as old as five or six years, according to Thaler, utilizing either FaceTime or WebRTC services. Other devices with access to Skype or other video chat services can also be used.

“It gives them the ability to do these shoots from anywhere,” said Thaler, which in the past has included the field, coaches’ office, or Thaler’s personal favorite, the bus with the players in the background celebrating their victory.

Fox Sports SW has found other ways to utilize VCC’s technology into other programming as well. The station has a weekly window where it can work with call producers to conduct interviews through VCC rather than sending out remote crews. With its pro team coverage, the station has initial plans to offer live looks at playoff watch parties.

But first will be the Texas High School Football state playoffs, which kick off this weekend, Nov. 15-17. “Football Friday” will tap seven or eight additional interviews using VCC to add to their playoff coverage.

“Our goal three years ago was how do we begin to cover the state,” said Walsh. “We saw VCC, we tested it, we’ve done it and we now feel that we’ve been successful in covering the state when it comes to high school football.”

NEW YORK—With the ability to watch most sports live, sports fans are remaining loyal to pay-TV providers, according to Grabyo’s 2019 Sports Video Trends Report, but trends are forming that make the relationship seem a little tenuous should the market change.

Pay-TV broadcasters hold the rights to most valuable sports properties around the world, but that doesn’t mean that viewers are watching theme exclusively on their TVs. Glaybo found that 65% of sports fans watch games most often through their smartphones, while 53% do so on their laptop or desktop, a clear example of consumers’ shift to online streaming. TV sets are most regularly used by 40% of those surveyed.

While pay-TV holding the rights for many of these sports has slowed the rate of cord-cutting for sports fans (more than half still subscribe to a pay-TV service), different platforms are becoming more engaging for sports fans. Graybo says that nearly 25% of sports fans use social media platforms more often than pay-TV to watch video, including just under one in five that visit with the specific intent to watch video.

“Consumer expectations have changed. Sports fans are looking at other media services available across a range of devices and platforms and see more flexibility than is available in sports,” said Gareth Capon, Graybo CEO. “Digital distribution has grown across online platforms and social media, and consumers have flocked to these platforms. However, in today’s media rights market, linear broadcasters dominate and sports fans have no choice if they want to watch live sport. Our data suggests that the demand is there and if an online competitor—perhaps Amazon or YouTube—invest in a meaningful live offering, then consumers will welcome this with open arms and the shift to digital media in sports will accelerate.”

To download the full report, click here.

The initial success of 5G will be driven by fixed wireless services rather than mobile apps, as nearly half of consumers believe that current smartphone designs will not be able to take advantage of the standard’s ultra-fast speeds. This is prompting most consumers to look first at using 5G to replace home wireless broadband and cable TV. In addition, many believe that 5G will mean that smartphones could be replaced by augmented reality glasses within the next five years.

These are some of the conclusions drawn by Ericsson in its new “5G Consumer Potential” report that focuses on “busting the myths around the value of 5G for consumers.” The report is the result of more than 35,000 online interviews conducted by Ericsson Consumer & Industry Lab on consumers aged 15-69 in 22 countries, as well as interviews with industry experts.

The report predicts worldwide adoption of 5G will come in three phases:

• Home wireless broadband and premium smartphone experiences that allow content to be downloaded in seconds are expected to go mainstream within one year of 5G launch;

• Moving away from traditional cable TV and opting for a UHD TV service (5G TV) bundled with 5G home wireless broadband (this was the most popular on consumer’s wishlist), and

• The ability to use 5G hot zone services that offer ultra-high speeds and reliability in demanding locations like airports, shopping streets and office spaces.

According to the report, a quarter of households (one-third in the U.S.) have become “hyperconnected” with more than 10 connected devices, covering smartphones, tablets, PCs, smart TVs, voice controlled devices and VR headsets. Households worldwide average six connected screens and one third expect to add at least one more screen within the next year.

Consumer dissatisfaction over slower than advertised broadband speeds and inadequate TV bundles is prompting one-third of fixed home broadband users to look for alternate providers, Ericsson says. When offered the prospect of 5G home wireless broadband, 8 of 10 who say they want to switch would consider supplementing or outright replacing their service.

"The market is established and home 4G broadband connections are under pressure,” said Jan Trionow, CEO of Austrian-based telco Three. “Capacity is needed to continue the business, improve connectivity and to do this on a nationwide scale.”

The attraction of 5G services vary geographically, according to the report, with U.S. and U.K. consumers preferring to attach 5G TV services to their plan; Chinese preferring a 5G “smart home;” Koreans advocating shopping in VR with tactile feedback and Saudi Arabian consumers preferring immersive.

The death of the smartphone in its current form factor has been predicted for several years now and consumers seem to have paid attention, according to Ericsson. Half of those surveyed believe that by 2025, smartphones will still exist, but that many others will be using 5G-enabled “smart glasses” that use augmented reality to display and manipulate much more data.

"The smartphone will be dead in five years' time," predicts Johan Hagegård at IMRSV, an AR/VR innovation house. "I will instead have smart glasses in front of me all the time." Matt Stagg of EE agrees with this bold prediction: "The smartphone as we see it now does not have anything on it. It can't take advantage of 5G, such as holographic apps, in the longer term."

Average world smartphone usage in 2018 stood at 5.6 GB per month and is expected to increase to 21 GB per month in 2024, an increase of roughly 4x from today's usage, according to Ericsson. And with the emergence of 5G, consumers also expect to vastly increase their use of video, including viewing video on holographic displays.

Currently video consumes 60 percent of worldwide data usage and half of the consumers surveyed said they expect 5G will spur them to watch more video content in 4K.

In terms of affordability, on average, smartphone users said they would be willing to pay a premium of 20 percent over and above what they pay today for the benefits of 5G. However, half of all early adopters who are familiar with 5G's promises could pay as much as 32 percent more than they do today, according to Ericsson.

“Consumers' willingness to pay should be interpreted as a stronger measure of their interest in 5G-enabled services," Ericsson said. "However, it should not be interpreted as a prediction of how much they will pay for a certain service.”

Part Idiscussed the current state of ENG and the move to mobile journalism

Part IIlooked at Euronews’ adoption of smartphone newsgathering

Part III looked at how Euronews NBC adopted iPhone journalism

Journalism, even journalism principals, has always been closely tied to innovation, invention and technology. Pencils, for example, enabled far quicker, more accurate notetaking than quill and ink. Many reporters used to learn shorthand to achieve New York World publisher Joseph Pulitzer’s admonition that the three most important words in journalism are “accuracy, accuracy and accuracy.”

The telegraph did not just vastly increase the speed and span of news acquisition and delivery. It was a key factor behind the objective reporting concept, succinct writing and inverted pyramid/main-facts-first style because of the high cost/low bandwidth of telegraph transmissions—not to mention the business case for non-partisan reporting.

The telegraph also spurred the creation of the Associated Press wire service, whose reporters delivered the same, neutral story to all member newspapers whose news coverage was otherwise highly biased.

"AP’s Broadcast News Handbook" summarizes the history:

AP came into being in 1848 and pioneered the notion of using the telegraph to distribute news to more than one point simultaneously. The AP had decided from its birth that it would present the news fairly and impartially. Covering the Civil War was one of the first big tests for The Associated Press, and it was a trial of fire of “objectivity”—an AP invention which was still considered an oddity in those days.

SMARTPHONE ENHANCEMENTS

Since the Civil War, an unending string of technologies has enhanced newsgathering and delivery. Huge lead-casting Linotype machines, for example, replaced typesetting by hand. Decades later phototypesetting rendered Linotype obsolete.

(The main reason I was selected editor of my campus newspaper in 1967 was my pledge to switch production from hot metal typesetting to lower cost, higher print quality offset.)

Today journalism is in crisis partly because of technology. The profession needs to deploy new technologies to dig out of that hole, technologies such as smartphones to replace ENG cameras and IP cellular transmissions from the news scene to the newsroom and from the newsroom to consumers.

Which brings us to bonded cellular technology and how it might help save journalism. But first a look at other smartphone enhancements.

Smartphones without accessories can capture news video in a pinch. But to produce consistently high-quality video they need a little help from their friends, like grips, tripods, LED lights, external mics, apps like FiLMiC Pro, backup storage and batteries—plus, bonded cellular bandwidth boost.

The latter may be the smartphone’s best newsgathering friend. Bonded cellular technology is essential for consumer-grade smartphones—which only have single modems that connect them to cell towers—to fully replace ENG cameras that use microwave and satellite links and, sometimes, cellular bonding to link to the newsroom.

Just as the smartphone is a technological wonder, so is bonded cellular; just a lot less known. It’s about increasing the bandwidth between points A and B (A often being the field and B the station) by magically combining multiple cell phone connections, plus, on occasion, Wi-Fi, Ethernet, microwave and satellite links. Smartphone bonded cellular apps can combine as many as three signals while bonded cellular appliances used with ENG minicams can combine as many as 12 network links. (For example, LiveU’s LU600 unit can be configured to bond up to 12 links using internal and external modems, internal Wi-Fi and two Ethernet ports.)

Euronews, which claims to have cut the cord to ENG and SNG, supercharges its iPhone live shot transmissions using the LiveU brand app. Similar apps are marketed by Quicklink, TVU, LiveU, Dejero, AVIWEST and Soliton, to name a few.

Sadly, at the moment, bonded cellular technology is working more against smartphone newsgathering than for it. It’s true that the apps boost smartphone newsgathering performance. But higher-powered, bonded cellular appliances—used alone and as hybrids with legacy microwave and satellite—are helping extend the life of otherwise obsolete ENG camcorders and OB trucks. It’s acting like life support for the dying.

Smartphone bonded cellar should have been helping kill off microwave and satellite live trucks for journalism’s sake. Those dinosaurs on wheels—which are destined for extinction anyway— are hurting journalism two ways: 1) By diverting money away from reporting staffs and, 2) by abetting widespread coverage of low and no-news-value events.

FASTER, CHEAPER AND ONLINE

If journalism is to ever rebound, video newsgathering must be much cheaper, much faster and delivered primarily online. That’s not going to happen with expensive and wasteful legacy equipment, inefficient workflows and outmoded delivery methods.

Here’s what’s tricky. Bonded cellular vendors make most of their profit from those high-end appliances that prop up ENG. They have less financial incentive to push their cheaper smartphone apps as ENG/SNG replacements.

Although most bonded cellular vendors do quietly tout their smartphone apps and small appliances as replacements for ENG/SNG trucks, Saint-Grégoire France-based AVIWEST is using a bigger megaphone. In a 2016 webinar co-hosted with its U.S. distributor, VidOvation, the opening slide showed ENG and SNG trucks to be obsolete. VidOvation’s Jim Jachetta warned vendors who may feel threatened by bonded cellular, “if you don’t change or if you don’t adapt, someone will do it for you. Someone will drive you out of business.” Jachetta told me that many of his customers are already replacing their microwave and satellite trucks with at least, their ENG camera-mount appliances.

“Many VidOvation and AVIWEST customers have reduced or eliminated their satellite and microwave ENG trucks in favor of the AVIWEST bonded cellular and IP Uplink,” Jachetta said. “In other cases, it is taking a long time to convince them! They are used to traditional workflow and it is difficult to take on change.”

AVIWEST’s Florian Kolmer is even more audacious. He agrees that an important reason for television news departments to deep six their legacy live trucks is “to divert huge amounts of money from ENG trucks to reporters.”

“The only way for media to get more audience and survive despite reduced ad budgets is to have efficient workflows targeted to online media and have [many] more reporters in the field,” he said. “We have customers who moved away from ENG cameras, satellite and entirely rely on smartphones and MOJOPRO applications, both for live and editing. With the appropriate training for their journalists, it became very professional and viewers don't notice it is made with smartphones over bonded cellular.”

It seems that Kolmer, a techie, may care more about journalism than many news directors. Kolmer checked the important boxes: Bonded cellular can cut video production costs in order to hire more reporters and more efficient workflows can help video news providers cope with smaller budgets.

Which is what Deborah Turness is attempting with NBC’s Euronews. Can she succeed where many other attempts have failed to use technology to deal with the journalism crisis? One standout failure is the newspaper industry’s ill fated “pivot to video.” The lesson: amateurish, half-hearted attempts to stick video news online while laying off reporters had no chance of success.

“If you want to inspire some dark laughter among publishing types, just mutter the phrase ‘pivot to video,’ wrote Simon Dumenco in AdAge’s “Why the ‘Pivot to Video’ has Failed.”

According to the Columbia Journalism Review, “Hundreds of journalists have lost their jobs while shiny-object-chasing publishers are no closer to creating cohesive video strategies to replace the traffic those writers were producing. Publishers who pivoted to video have forfeited the majority of their hard-won native audiences in only a year of churning out undifferentiated, bland chunks of largely aggregated ‘snackable’ video. That’s no one’s idea of success.”

Deploying video and cutting the cost of producing that video needs to result in more boots on the ground, not fewer. It should result in more “shoe leather” enterprise reporting, not more mindless aggregation and endless tweeting.

NBC News Group Chairman Andrew Lack, who has strong journalism credentials, made it clear in a memo that he wants to expand newsgathering with Euronews, not cut costs to trim reporter staffs.

“We plan to marry the power of the NBC News brand and the talent of our people with a formidable news asset in Europe in order to create an international offering that will strengthen our news organization and change the landscape of international news,” Lack said. “By joining forces with Euronews and their nearly 500 journalists, our audience on the broadcast network, on MSNBC and our digital platforms will benefit from a greatly expanded news gathering capability.”

READING TEA LEAVES

It does not take a tasseographer reading tea leaves or a fortune teller peering into a crystal ball to divine where news reporting and presenting are headed, despite print and broadcast executives clinging to legacy workflows and technologies.

Clear news consumption trends:

• More video news, despite the print media’s calamitous pivot to video.
• More direct internet/OTT access to news, less demand for newsprint, broadcast, satellite and cable delivery.
• More nonlinear/on-demand access to news via the internet, rapidly decreasing preference for nonlinear/scheduled delivery via anchored news shows.
• Demand for more live and ultra-quick video reporting.
• Higher demand for real and vetted news, less demand for “fake” and hyped news.

Those television executives who seem to say, “I'll give up my OB trucks when you pry them from my cold, dead hands," may be taking their legacy equipment and workflows to the grave. There are simply too many internet news outlet startups and too many newspapers going online—all without making huge investments in traditional equipment and methods—for the television news golden age, now sputtering, to last another decade.

Linear video news delivery will make money, even if revenue flow continues to decrease, for the near, foreseeable future. There’s no reason to begin shutting down television news studios. But there are plenty of reasons to not put more money into them. Why NBC and Telemundo, among others, are investing millions on new, supposed “state-of-the art” news studios is baffling. Should the linear, broadcast model keep getting top priority and funding while digital, nonlinear delivery continues getting short shrift?

Consider one of several giant steps taken by the Swedish newspaper chain Mittmedia in connection with deploying smartphones and Bambuser’s low-tech, non-bonding, live video platform.

According to a Mittmedia press release, “All of the 550 reporters in MittMedia are trained to broadcast live—both in breaking news situations and planned broadcasts—and can therefore, with the aid of the hub, transmit with a range of different broadcasting tools. Among others; the app and the live video tool Bambuser Iris Reporter. During 2016 MittMedia had over one million live video streams.”

Good grief! A newspaper chain doing what Sweden’s local television news outlets should have done: Prioritizing online delivery and using smartphones with cheap streaming software instead of expensive mobile trucks that really aren’t all that mobile.

(Bambuser, however, may not be the newspaper chain’s best choice for live video. Sweden’s Bambuser does not do cellular bonding. The company is also weathering a serious financial storm despite the Associated Press being a financial stakeholder. A hint for MittMedia: replace Bambuser with a bonded cellular platform.)

Finally, a word about 5G. Won’t Bambuser be as good as today’s bonded cellular as 5G comes on board? In other words, will 5G kill off bonded cellular?

No, says Jachetta.

“5G is going to be quite different compared to 3G/4G: it will be deployed on higher frequency bands covering very small cells and not permeating into buildings,” he said. “It will also be more susceptible to obstructions such as buildings, trees, etc. Higher frequency bands typically support higher bit rates—this will be the case with 5G cellular. 5G will be a supplement to 4G and 3G. 5G will most likely not replace 3G/4G.

“It will be mostly deployed in places like stadiums or big venues, but it is not going to cover large areas or transmit long distances,” Jachetta continued. “It will not kill bonded cellular as most areas will be only covered with 4G and cellular networks usage is booming, so 3G is saturated for some time already and 4G is start to become saturated in many countries.”

On the other hand, in early 2017 Bob Kovacs—videographer, former Nextel engineer and TV Technology contributor—praised bonded cellular over microwave trucks for its “high-bandwidth return capability for cuing and IFB built into the system.”

In his article, “Bonded Cellular Shrinks as it Grows,” Kovacs wrote, “The big disadvantage of bonded cellular is that the digital link can vary widely from lousy to great—you might be sure you’ll get 20 Mbps, but find out that it won’t go higher than 3 Mbps.”

He added, “Bonded is quickly becoming passé, as wireless network speeds ramp up. 4G wireless networks are now common, and they theoretically have speeds as high as 100 Mbps.”

Two years have passed since Kovacs made that assessment and 5G deployment has begun. I asked him if he still thinks bonded cellular is still on the way out.

He does. Sort of.

“Bonding multiple wireless circuits results in a more reliable service, and that is always desirable,” Kovacs said. “That said, high speed circuits are continually getting more reliable, so the time may soon come when bonding gives you 99-percent reliability and not bonding gives you 97-percent. Is it worth the added cost and complexity to get the extra 2-percent of reliability?”

In any event, one way or another, 5G and bonded cellular are going to play key roles as smartphone newsgathering overtakes ENG.

LONDON—The BBC's chairman David Clementi has said the corporation faces a huge challenge with the “smartphone generation."

Speaking at the Voice of the Listener and Viewer spring conference, Clementi said more work has to be done to capture the 16 to 34-year-old audience: “This age group represents our biggest challenge."

“They watch less TV than older people and listen to less radio. They are the smartphone generation and their view of the world is shaped by social media. It is a generation with which we have to work hard to remain relevant.”

[Read: Are Smartphones The Future Of TV News?]

He said of younger viewers: “This is the generation for whom the one thing they can’t afford to lose is their smartphone. Their whole life revolves around it.”

Clementi also warned the Corporation's ability to fund original British content has decreased.

He said that as commercial broadcasters were hit by “dwindling advertising revenues … the volume and breadth of British content that British audiences rely upon is now under real threat."

“It is not limited to drama. It is about home-made content across all genres,” he told the audience, adding that “there are some serious challenges ahead."

While the list is largely consistent with 2016’s report, CTA identified a few notable changes within its annual top five rankings of most frequently owned tech devices in U.S. households:

1. Televisions: While household ownership remains steady at 96 percent owning at least one TV, the total number of units owned (308 million) decreased by three percent YOY, reflecting a very slight decrease in the number of TVs in use per household.
2. Smartphones: With smartphones reaching a record level of household penetration (80 percent), they jumped solidly into second place among the country’s most frequently owned tech products; the total number of smartphones owned also increased significantly to 238 million (up 13 percent).
3. DVD/Blu-ray players: After ranking second on this list for several years, household ownership levels dropped seven percentage points YOY (70 percent) and unit ownership fell 14 percentage points (142 million).
4. Wired headphones and earbuds: With the addition of earbuds, household ownership of this category now sits at 70 percent, boosting this audio technology up one spot from last year’s report; these are the country’s most frequently owned tech product by unit (352 million).
5. Notebooks, laptops or netbooks: While household ownership increased slightly (69 percent, up one percentage point), the category fell one spot in the rankings despite a 12 percent YOY jump in unit ownership.
   

ARLINGTON, VA.—Smartphones are now in 80 percent of U.S. homes, a six percentage point increase year-over-year. U.S. consumers now own 27 million more smartphones than they did just last year, according to new research from the Consumer Technology Association, which also indicated that TVs remain the most popular technology, with at least one in 96 percent of U.S. homes.

“Three of the top five most frequently owned technology devices are products with screens—televisions, smartphones and laptops—and those numbers will continue to grow as one-third of consumers tell us they’ll buy at least one smartphone in 2017, and one-fifth say they plan to buy a television or laptop in the coming year,” said Steve Koenig, senior director of market research for the CTA. “U.S. consumers are quickly embracing the rapid rise of today’s ‘screen culture,’ demonstrating their appetite for connected devices that enable easy and accessible consumption of content of all types.”

While CTA forecasts overall industry growth in 2016, the strong household penetration of mature categories, such as tablets, televisions, PCs and laptops, and continued industry innovation are declining or slowing growth and placing pressure on margins for some manufacturers and retailers. For example, despite a projected 65 percent increase in revenue for Ultra High-Definition TVs in 2016, CTA expects revenue for the overall TV market to not increase this year.

Smartphones and in-vehicle communications/safety systems saw the largest gains in household ownership among connected devices —both increasing by six percentage points YOY. Almost half (45 percent) of U.S. households now have at least one vehicle with a driver-assistive safety or communication system such as back-up sensors, rearview cameras or hands-free calling. Smart home devices, smart TVs, smartwatches, wearable activity trackers and wireless speakers each saw an increase in household ownership of four percent YOY.

Among emerging technologies, 4K Ultra HD television is enjoying the fastest growth in ownership. CTA’s research analysis shows 16 percent of U.S. households now own a 4K UHDTV, up nine percentage points YOY and 11 percent of U.S. households plan to purchase a 4K UHDTV in the coming year. Other emerging technologies expected to experience significant YOY ownership growth in the year to come include voice-activated digital assistants, drones and virtual reality headsets.

The 19th Annual Consumer Technology Ownership and Market Potential Study ascertains ownership and purchase intent of consumer technology products among U.S. households across various categories. The report was administered via a dual-frame telephone interview to 2,014 U.S. adults between Feb. 2-13, 2017. It is designed and formulated by CTA Market Research. The complete study is available for free for CTA member companies at CTA.tech/membership. Non-members may purchase the study at the CTA store.

Concurrently, statistics visualizer Statista reported that Americans spend 2 hours, 37 minutes a day, on average, on mobile electronics devices, up 80 percent over four years. (See graphic below.) Find more statistics at Statista

ITU Radiocommunication Study Group 6, considering

a) that Report ITU-R BT.2299 provides a compilation of supporting evidence that terrestrial broadcasting plays a critically important role in disseminating information to the public in times of emergencies;

b) that the overall robustness of broadcast services is enhanced by the geographical diversity of multiple radio and television services within a given region,whereby total loss of service during service disruptions rarely occurs;

c) that radio receivers are generally highly reliable, regardless of almost any disorder or disruption taking place in the affected disaster area;

d) that the majority of smart phones contain hardware that consists of a multitude of connectivity capabilities including, among other things, Bluetooth and similar technologies. Regardless of the chipset manufacturer selected by the smart phone maker, FM receivers have a nearly 100 percent inclusion in this set of connectivity chips;

e) that Report ITU-R BT.2387 indicates that some countries are implementing digital sound broadcasting and while the demand for analogue FM radio remains strong, some countries have extended the FM band,

is of the opinion
that citizens of the world would benefit if manufacturers of mobile telephones, tablets, and similar devices as well as associated service providers would include and activate a broadcast radio tuner functionality in their products along with the appropriate applications to facilitate radio broadcasting reception. TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA— The North American Broadcasters Association announced that it has gained international support for the activation of FM radio receivers in smartphones. NABA submitted an “Opinion” on activating radio receivers in smartphones that was adopted by the International Telecommunication Union in March of 2017. Enabling the FM chip present present in most smartphones would allow users convenient access to FM radio in times of emergency and natural disasters.

“ITU’s support is a result of focused, coordinated and steadfast effort by NABA’s Radio Committee and the FM Chip Working Group comprised of members across Canada, Mexico and the United States,” said Michael McEwen, director-general of NABA. “As broadcast industry leaders, we thank the ITU for the global support of FM enabled smartphones.”

The Official Opinion from the ITU, (reproduced in the sidebar), states “that Report ITU-R BT.2299 provides a compilation of supporting evidence that terrestrial broadcasting plays a critically important role in disseminating information to the public in times of emergencies.” In addition, “...citizens of the world would benefit if manufacturers of mobile telephones, tablets, and similar devices as well as associated service providers would include and activate a broadcast radio tuner functionality in their products along with the appropriate applications to facilitate radio broadcasting reception.”

The opinion was initially submitted to the Radiocommunication sector of the ITU in Geneva in October of 2016, and was discussed, edited, and approved at the March 2017 meetings of the ITU’s Study Group 6,which specializes in broadcasting services. NABA’s submission was supported by the European Broadcasting Union, International Association of Broadcasting, the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union and the World Broadcasting Unions as well as a number of administrations, NABA said.