On your smartphone, connected to your tablet, in your car and in your hand – mobile TV from local broadcasters delivers your favorite shows and live news wherever you go. There's no waiting for streaming video, and it won't tax your data plan because shows come straight from local TV stations into your mobile TV-equipped device.
And since the channels come from familiar, local stations – you'll find the same shows that you enjoy in the living room can now go wherever you go!
Mobile digital television represents a significant new revenue stream for the broadcasting industry as well as a new way to reach more customers. Affordable transmission facility improvements allow broadcasters to extend local programming to a vast audience of viewers with mobile TV devices. And with the completion of the mandated digital conversion, mobile TV has emerged as an important way for broadcasters to extend their reach.
Viewers who have had a taste of mobile TV say the most popular program they like to watch is local news, and that the convenience of having favorite channels wherever you go is the key advantage of the technology.
Mobile TV proved popular to more than 400 people in the Washington, D.C. area who spent several months with prototype smartphones and computers equipped with mobile TV reception. Watching was popular while commuting on public transportation, during lunch breaks and while waiting in line at the supermarket or at the doctor's office.
"Passing back" the TV-equipped portable device proved to be a popular activity for parents, to keep the kids entertained in the car.
During emergencies, viewing spiked and the mobile TV devices proved to be an invaluable source of information during approaching storms and other public safety emergencies where information was not immediately forthcoming from authorities.
In a poll commissioned by Dyle Mobile TV, more than 500 adults said that live TV matters – with 68 percent reporting that they would watch more TV if they were able to watch it on a mobile device while on-the-go.
Over half of those polled said they would consider watching mobile TV on smartphones and tablets.
Those polled said they want mobile TV to deliver news and weather, even with the ready availability of this content online. The survey indicates that consumers look to their local stations to help them decide what is important – particularly when there is a breaking news story or weather emergency.
Two major organizations have formed to provide mobile TV service:
Dyle™ Mobile TV, the consumer-facing brand of Mobile Content Venture, is offering consumers a new, easy way to experience and enjoy live broadcast television on their mobile devices at home or on-the-go. The Dyle application enables live broadcast programming – such as local and national news, as well as sports and entertainment content, utilizing the ATSC mobile TV standard, on mobile devices featuring Dyle. With compatible devices, Dyle will be available in 35 U.S. markets, potentially reaching 55 percent of the population, and will add additional network programming and hardware in the future. Dyle is operated by the Mobile Content Venture (MCV), a joint-venture of 12 major broadcast groups including Belo Corp., Cox Media Group, E.W. Scripps Co., Gannett Broadcasting, Hearst Television Inc., Media General Inc., Meredith Corp., Post-Newsweek Stations Inc. and Raycom Media, all of which are part of the standalone entity known as Pearl, LLC, as well as Fox, ION Television and NBC. For more information, visit www.dyle.tv.
The Mobile500 Alliance member stations reach more than 90 percent of U.S. homes with over-the-air signals and collectively the Alliance's members have approved a preliminary business plan designed to help expand the commercial availability of mobile TV broadcasts in the United States. The Mobile500 Alliance plan calls for launching 15-20 mobile TV channels in markets across the country. The integrated user experience of the proposed service will provide mobile device users with a mix of free and subscription channels along Video On Demand content and data services delivered via mobile TV and through 3G/4G and Wi-Fi networks. The launch schedule is still to be determined. For more information, visit www.mobile500alliance.com.
Mobile TV makes local, digital broadcast TV portable. With mobile TV, consumers can tune in to live, local news, traffic information, weather, sporting events or entertainment programs from the convenience of their car, at the beach—wherever they may be, using a variety of mobile and video devices.
Additionally, mobile TV makes public safety information accessible from virtually anywhere. Consumers will be able to receive their broadcast TV programming on a mobile device, delivered in full-motion video and complete with local news, traffic and weather updates.
The broadcasting industry has embraced mobile TV as an enhancement of the conversion of its TV signals from old-fashioned analog transmission to modern digital transmission. This conversion cleared a considerable portion of the airwaves that were devoted to the analog signal, for new services. Full-motion, mobile television is the most prominent of these services currently being offered. Broadcasters reap the benefits of mobile TV's crisp picture, high-speed mobility and a wealth of new multicast choices – all made possible through the digital broadcast signal.
The current network of broadcast transmission towers that carry TV signals to your home can be retrofitted to also deliver a mobile TV signal. That signal has the ability to deliver local, full-motion digital broadcasts on multiple mobile devices, without the need for additional broadcast spectrum.
The mobile TV platform enables local TV stations to deliver live, digital content to ATSC-capable mobile and video devices such as mobile phones, portable media players, laptop computers, personal navigation devices and automobile-based "infotainment systems." The service is "in-band." meaning local broadcasters are providing mobile TV services as part of their terrestrial transmission within the same, existing 6 MHz channel they use for their current ATSC digital TV programming.
With little cost, broadcasters can install a mobile TV exciter and signal encoding equipment on existing TV transmission systems and gain the ability to transmit a robust, digital mobile TVsignal. Consumers will receive that signal on various mobile TV devices. The mobile TV system allows the splitting of the 19.4 Mb/s of capacity into a slice for delivery to current TV receivers and a slice for mobile TV technology that can be received on new mobile TV-capable receivers.
Video enabled devices capable of receiving broadcast TV services continue to be developed and upgraded by manufacturers. These devices include mobile phones, portable media players, laptop computers, personal navigation devices and automobile-based "infotainment" equipment.
Almost always on hand, the mobile phone and tablet are essential devices for connecting to millions of viewers.
Live local broadcasts make the traditional mode of watching video on-the-go even more mobile.
The laptop is the perfect device for bundling broadcast television with a large screen viewing area.
On-the-road or in the park this ever increasingly popular device is used by millions today for their day-to-day activities.
Whether after-market or stock, mobile TV is the perfect addition to the family vehicle "infotainment" system.
Local news and sports, together with highly promoted and branded network content, will be fundamental to the mass appeal and adoption of mobile TV; just as they have historically, and without exception, been for every major advance in television over the past half century – cable, VOD, DVR, and now mobile TV. Similar to the history and development of cable TV content and services, the mass appeal and adoption of mobile TV will provide the base upon which to successfully launch add-on premium, enhanced and interactive services.
Mobile TV expands opportunities, and is a unique method to reach consumers with content and with messages, such as instant and localized public safety, disaster and weather alerts. Consumer interest in such service and information has already been demonstrated in international trials of the technology.
2013 NAB Show