Broadcasters were told this week that if implemented quickly, mobile DTV broadcast services could be a $2 billion market for the industry by 2012.
This fact, among others, was the highlight of a report unveiled during NAB’s TV board meeting. The report, from BIA Financial Network, was commissioned by the association as part of its “FASTROAD” (Flexible Advanced Services for Television & Radio On All Devices) technology advocacy group launched last year.
BIAfn said that in order to achieve these figures (which would be a mix of ad revenues and subscription fees), the broadcast industry should focus its efforts on establishing a single standard for mobile TV (currently under consideration by the ATSC) by the summer of 2008; the technology should be ready for roll-out a year from now to correspond with the analog shut-off; content protection issues be resolved; audience measurement parameters be established; and that consumer devices be broadly available by Christmas 2009.
The company said it based its predictions on the assumption that 130 million mobile receive devices and an additional 50 million MP3 devices include M/H capability by 2012. The report is available here.
