LAS VEGAS: LG demonstrated ATSC-enabled mobile phones at the CTIA trade show in Las Vegas this week. LG was at the wireless event, meeting with carriers to give them a glimpse the devices’ reception capabilities, Mobile Tech Review said. Sinclair’s CW affiliate, KVCW-TV in Las Vegas, provided bandwidth on Channel 29 for the demonstrations.
LG is part of the Open Mobile Video Coalition, the group of broadcasters and industry players that put together the standards and technology necessary to launch mobile digital television. The transmission standard is in the final stages pending formal adoption, and service launches are expected to begin this year by 63 stations in 22 markets.
In his assessment of the wireless show, Jeff Bussgang at PeHub said that video was mobile’s “next big thing. Everyone is talking about delivering high-quality video on mobile,” wrote. “With 22 million consumers in January 2009 accessing the mobile Internet according to Comscore, double last year and likely to double again in 2010, rich content on the phone is clearly the next big thing, and video is a huge driver of that.
“GenY consumers are watching news, weather and sports on their phones as if it were the normal function of the device as opposed to a full-blown miracle as compared to only five years ago. (Full disclosure: I’m an investor in mobile video leader Transpera and so am highly biased here, but I’m also seeing the numbers explode!).
The Launch List, by designated market area, call letters, ownership/affiliation, includes:
#1 New York--WPXN (ION); WNBC (NBC); WNET (PBS)
#3 Chicago--WFLC (Fox); WCPX (ION) WTTW (PBS)
#4 Philadelphia--WPPX (ION); WCAU (NBC): WHYY (PBS)
#5 San Francisco--KTVU (Cox/Fox); KKPX (ION)
#7 Boston--WBPX (ION); WGBH (PBS); WHDH (Sunbeam/NBC)
#8 Washington--WPXW (ION); WRC (NBC); WETA (PBS)
#9 Atlanta--WSB (Cox/ABC); WXIA (Gannett/ABC); WPXA (ION); WGCL (Meredith/CBS)
#11 Detroit--WTSV (PBS): WDIV (Post-Newsweek/NBC) WXYZ (Scripps/ABC)
#12 Tampa--WXPX (ION); WFLA (Media General/NBC); WEDU (PBS)
#14 Seattle--KING (Belo/NBC); KIRO (Cox/CBS): KOMO (Fisher/ABC)
#18 Denver--KUSA (Gannett/NBC) KPXC (Ion)
#19Orlando--WFTA (Cox/ABC); WESH (Hearst-Argyle/NBC)
#24 Baltimore--WMAR (Scripps/ABC); WBFF/WNUV (Sinclair/Fox, CW)
#26 Charlotte, N.C.--WCNC (Belo/NBC): WSOC (Cox/ABC); WBTV (Raycom/CBS)
#32 Columbus, Ohio--WBNS (Dispatch/CBS); WWHO (Lin/CW); WCMH (Media General/NBC); WSYX/WTTE (Sinclair/ABC, Fox)
#34 Milwaukee--WNTV/WCGV (Sinclair/CW/MyNet)
#36 Greenville, S.C.--WSPA (Media General/CBS); WLOX/WMYA (Sinclair/ABC, MyNet)
#42 Norfolk, Va.--WAVY (Lin/NBC); WHRO (PBS); WTVZ (Sinclair/MyNet)
#51 Providence, R.I.-- WPRI (Lin/CBS); WJAR (Media General/NBC)
#59 Mobile, Ala.--WBPG (Lin/CW); WEAR/WFGX (Sinclair/ABC, MyNet)
#68 Roanoke, Va.--WSLS (Media General/NBC); WBRA (PBS); WDBJ (Raycom/CBS)
#71 Toledo, Ohio--WUPW (Lin/Fox); WTOL (Raycom/CBS)
-- Deborah D. McAdams
