The move is generally seen as the successful culmination of the inaugural phase of mobile DTV during which the groundwork was laid to give the fledgling service the foundation needed to become a reality.
The Open Mobile Video Coalition and NAB say the move reflects the maturity of mobile TV and will help to accelerate its commercialization while solidifying the new technology’s role in the larger broadcast television universe.
The ATSC’s completion of an NRT standard allows a variety of watch-when-ready scenarios, the tech group says. “This is a natural evolution of the mobile TV standard,” explained Sterling Davis, chairman of the OMVC’s Technical Advisory Group. “Storing programs in memory, clipcasting, digital signage, video-on-demand and micro-websites are ways for the broadcast industry to improve the array of services provided to users of mobile TV.
Panels, papers, prototypes and ready-to-go technology exhibits on the emerging broadcast mobile market will be a big part of next week’s NAB Show in Las Vegas. Says ATSC’s Jerry Whitaker, “This is the year that broadcast stations want to put mobile on the air and are indeed acting on that.”
The Open Mobile Video Coalition has selected the UltraViolet digital rights locker maintained by Neustar, which provides a buy-once, play anywhere scheme for end users. One of the main reasons mobile DTV proponents say it will thrive in a crowded market is free access, but the business model is shaping up to provide for at least some level of pay service.
Mobile DTV Repeater Shows Promise
A test of a single-frequency repeater in Washington this summer and fall indicates that it may be what broadcasters need to fill in coverage gaps in their mobile DTV service when they roll it out next year. “I’m cautiously optimistic,” says OMVC’s Sterling Davis (left).
Exclusives
In an ambitious series of tests organized by the Open Mobile Video Coalition, consumers equipped with special cell phones and portable personal computers capable of receiving over-the-air broadcast TV signals are yielding encouraging results, especially in terms of advertising exposure and recall.
