The Moblile 500 Alliance, with Fisher Communications and Hubbard Broadcasting, is distributing 750 receivers in each market for use with iPhones and iPads. Nielsen and Rentrak will evaluate the launch data and Lincoln and Chrysler are the inaugural advertisers.
DMAS 12 & 15
Mobile DTV Launching In Seattle, Minneapolis
The Mobile500 Alliance, with Fisher Communications and Hubbard Broadcasting, announced the soft consumer launch of its mobile digital television service, called MyDTV, in Seattle and Minneapolis (DMAs 12 and 15, respectively).
The launch group is distributing 750 receivers in each market for use with iPhones and iPads. Once the receiver is attached and the consumer downloads the free MyDTV application, the device is fully enabled. Upon initial launch of the app there is a short, one-time-only registration. The purpose of the registration is to qualify the device owner so that audience measurement data will be delivered in the same fashion as is currently reported for television. The Mobile500 Alliance is working with both Nielsen and Rentrak to evaluate the launch data.
The MyDTV app features several enhancements that will improve the viewing experience: closed captioning, an electronic program guide, built in social media to enhance engagement and sharing as well as an optional live record feature. The live record feature is one that consumers have said is a necessary feature to complement on-the-go viewing.
In conjunction with Accelerated Media, a provider of advanced advertising and interactive TV solutions for major brands and agencies, several advertisers have agreed to run advertising campaigns during the soft consumer launch in Seattle and Minneapolis. The advertising is served two ways: between channel changes and with banner ads. The Lincoln Motor Co. and Chrysler/Jeep will be the first advertisers to reach consumers through mobile digital television.
The companies said the ability to effectively send the broadcast signal simultaneously to multiple viewers without using the often-taxed cellular bandwidth “is a good value for consumers. The current delivery of streaming video to cell phones over cellular networks is not free to the end user, and it does not take long to exhaust data plan allowances. Cellular bandwidth limitations also often inhibit the ability for large groups to simultaneously stream.
“With this solution, for example, while attending a live event, multiple viewers will be able to watch the event live and on television concurrently. Broadcasters have the most efficient standard to deliver video to many people at the same time, ‘one to many.’ This leaves the cellular bandwidth open for talking, data, texting, and searching.”
BRAND CONNECTIONS
The Mobile500 Alliance will conduct a live demo of its MyDTV application at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (Jan. 9-11), in booth 14340 in the Mobile TV TechZone in the Central Hall. The demonstration will include the enhanced features and new devices.
To develop this product, the Alliance worked with Elgato, Expway and Broadcast Interactive Media. The Alliance is made up of more than 400 television stations from around the nation, all with the common goal of bringing broadcast television to consumers on their mobile devices.
Comments (6)
Matthew Castonguay says:
January 4, 2013 at 9:57 am
Moble500 and MCV (Dyle) need to merge, soon. Mobile DTV success is by no means assured; as market deployments by both begin, consumer confusion, annoyance and abandonment loom as huge issues if these guys don’t combine forces. I would love to see TVNewsCheck do an in-depth article on why this isn’t happening.
Christina Perez says:
January 4, 2013 at 10:13 am
Requiring sign-up turns reception of local broadcast TV into a de facto pay service, and a privilege, not a right. Add on devices will never fly. The DTV chip should be included in all mobile devices — and that’s the ONLY strategy that will allow broadcasters to compete on an equal footing in the mobile world. The greedsters really think dongles and add-on accessories will be widely accepted? What a joke. If DTV remains in the “free and clear” — no encryption, no registration required — it will take off. But once lawmakers realize the “free” airwaves are being used to limit access, this industry will invite renewed scrutiny, and regulation. Is that really what the industry’s leaders want?
Matthew Castonguay says:
January 4, 2013 at 10:28 am
PhillyPhlash. I regret to say you don’t know what you’re talking about. Of course embedded chips are preferable and in success will ultimately happen, but you obviously have no idea how difficult that is to accomplish from a business/deal p.o.v. Until a market is established, OEMs and carriers hold all the cards and carriers in particular have not yet decided that mDTV is a benefit to them (I think they eventually will). And yes, requiring registration/conditional access could enable pay models in the future (it’s free right now), it’s also needed to enable interactivity, addressability, advanced ad targeting, census-style measurement, tying into the internet, etc. You may loathe those things, but in the real (business) world those are now requirementsfor new entrants…required in order to compete in what is very quickly becoming a data-driven world/advertising economy. I respect your passion for free OTA broadcasting, but as a business proposition, mobile DTV would never have gotten to first base with your philosophy.
Christina Perez says:
January 4, 2013 at 10:55 am
No, it’s the ubiquity of broadcast television that makes it the most effective advertising medium on the planet. Take away free and easy access and the business model that built the broadcasting industry crumbles. It is you who suffers from the ailment I call “turnitintopaytv-itis.”
Christina Perez says:
January 4, 2013 at 10:59 am
BTW, I own one of those little hand-held DTVs. Even though it’s not a mobile device, it picks up the network affiliates almost anywhere, if the unit is not in motion. But try to find one of these units in a store — they’re not being pushed, because the greedsters want to see the pay TV model in place. They used to call this “throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”
Simon Katich says:
September 3, 2013 at 10:21 am
Is the app free to use with iPad, there are several offers that promise to provide full function service, but after downloading, you cannot view all the features because it is limited, unless otherwise when you purchase the full version.
Regards,
Emma Jewell Howard,