SMPTE 2011: Adding Mobile DTV at a Venue

HOLLYWOOD: Common wisdom suggests mobile DTV should be made as widely available as possible at launch. Yet past attempts at mobile television service haven’t gone so well, Gustavo Marra of ATEME USA said. Mobile Fernsehen Deutschland, BT in Great Britain and FLO TV in the United States all went south.

Marra says there’s an opportunity within sports stadiums, because fans want commentary and information in addition to just watching the game. He suggested possibly putting a small transmitters within the stadium itself, or utilizing Wi-Fi.

“When you have control of an environment, i.e., rights, you can have a complementary, versus a competitive service. There’s no impact in terms of production costs,” he said.

Consumption of media in the sports arena already exists with big screens, smartphones, iPads, he said. People are not only watching the game, but watching the big screen, commenting on Twitter and Facebook.

“You’re advertising to a known audience, so you know what those people like,” he said.