Broadcasters Target Washington, D.C. for Mobile Television Consumer Showcase
April 20 2009 - 8:35AM
PR Newswire (US)
Atlanta & Seattle Established as Technical Mobile DTV R&D
Markets LAS VEGAS, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- At the 2009 National
Association of Broadcasters Show, the Open Mobile Video Coalition
(OMVC), an alliance of U.S. broadcasters dedicated to accelerating
the development of Mobile Digital Television (DTV), announced today
that Washington, D.C. has been selected as a product showcase
market for Mobile DTV technology. Additionally, four TV stations in
Atlanta and Seattle will become model stations for technical
research and development (R&D) of device interoperability. The
OMVC's goal is to bring mobile television to American consumers,
using digital transmission over broadcast TV facilities. In
addition to the Washington consumer showcase and the Atlanta and
Seattle model stations, the OMVC said that seventy TV stations have
signed on to deliver live television broadcasts in twenty eight
markets by the end of 2009. The OMVC further announced that Dell
Inc. is joining the line-up of prototype devices from LG
Electronics, Samsung Electronics and Kenwood USA, with its brand
new netbook, the Inspiron Mini 10. "The Mobile DTV ecosystem we are
encouraging brings new opportunities to broadcasters, device
manufacturers, as well as consumers," said Brandon Burgess, OMVC
President and ION Media Networks, Inc. Chairman and CEO. "Dell
joining the R&D process with its exciting new netbook is a
reminder of just how far we have come. This broadcast Mobile
DTV-powered device would have been unthinkable a year ago." "We're
completely impressed by how quickly these television broadcasters
and equipment makers are moving to bring Mobile DTV to market,"
said David Rehr, President and CEO of the National Association of
Broadcasters. "Their combined commitment to moving our industry
forward is formidable. The industry is clearly embracing Mobile DTV
as an exciting next step in the evolution of digital television
broadcasting." Consumer Market Trial and R&D Markets to be
Activated The consumer trial in the greater Washington, D.C. metro
market, encompassing the ninth U.S. media market and surrounding
areas, will go live in late summer, permitting broadcasters to
showcase and test programming, services and features of the new
Mobile DTV technology. The trial will help prepare broadcasters for
the full commercial deployment of services scheduled for later this
year. Fox Television Stations' WDCA-DT, Gannett Broadcasting's
WUSA-DT, ION Media Networks' WPXW-DT, NBC Universal's WRC-DT, PBS'
WHUT-DT and MHz Networks, Sinclair Broadcast Group's operated
WNUV-DT and National Datacast are initial participants. The
coalition anticipates adding more stations to the trial in the near
term. David Lougee, President, Gannett Broadcasting Group,
commented, "Broadcasters recognize that the successful launch of
Mobile DTV will make broadcast TV practically ubiquitous. The
beauty of the technology is that all parties involved stand to
profit. By establishing the consumer trial and R&D model
stations, the broadcast community is essentially sending an
invitation to device manufacturers: Come test prototypes, build out
products and get on board this fast-moving value train that is
Mobile DTV." "Mobile DTV is an exciting new platform and growth
opportunity for broadcasters. NBC Universal envisions developing
new revenue streams in partnership with our affiliates, delivering
compelling content to our viewers, and providing increased value to
our advertisers," commented John Eck, OMVC Executive Committee
member and President of NBC Network and Media Works. "We're excited
to be working with the Coalition to conduct the first consumer
trials of this new technology." Four model stations - two each in
Atlanta, Georgia and Seattle, Washington - will be activated to
serve as extensive system test and validation markets for device
interoperability. WPXA-DT, an ION Media-owned ION Television
station serving Atlanta, signed on with mobile services on April
1st. Atlanta's WATL-DT, a Gannett-owned MyNetworkTV affiliate, plus
Seattle's KONG-DT, a Belo-owned independent station, and KOMO-DT, a
Fisher-owned ABC affiliate, are slated to begin full time broadcast
of Mobile DTV signals this spring. These model stations will enable
manufacturers to develop and test products that meet broadcaster,
electronics manufacturer and consumer requirements for the
projected launches and future services. Harris Corporation, Rohde
& Schwarz, Roundbox, Inc. and Triveni Digital are supplying
Mobile DTV transmission equipment and making available their
technical expertise to the stations, which represent the nation's
eighth and fourteenth largest media markets. End-to-End Mobile DTV
Infrastructure is Here; Dell Unveils Netbook Form Factor Prominent
companies such as LG, Samsung, Harris and Rohde & Schwarz have
all contributed to the technology's advancement by producing a
highly efficient ecosystem for broadcasting to mobile and portable
devices. These companies strive to simplify the Mobile DTV
infrastructure connection points, which include acquisition content
processing, encoding, multiplexing, encapsulation, modulation,
network adaptation and overall system management, thus delivering
services that will meet or exceed the end-user's expectations.
Additionally, a range of prototype devices - navigation units,
mobile phones, DTV-ready notebook computers, handheld digital TVs,
aftermarket in-vehicle video players and MP3 players -
incorporating Mobile DTV technology have been created by innovative
consumer electronics makers like LG, Samsung, Kenwood, Visteon and
now Dell. "Dell is an industry leader in bringing integrated TV
capability to the notebook and netbook categories worldwide,
including support for several over-the-air digital broadcast
standards on the Dell Inspiron Mini 10," said John Thode, Vice
President, Dell consumer products - small screen devices. "We
believe Mobile DTV is an important development for the broadcast
community and its affiliated industries and endorse ATSC Mobile DTV
as the emerging standard for the U.S." 70 TV Stations in 28 Markets
Ready for '09 Deployment Twenty one charter broadcasters - Belo
Corp., Capitol Broadcasting Company, Cox Television, Dispatch
Broadcast Group, Fisher Communications, Fox Television Stations,
Gannett Broadcasting, Gray Television, Hearst-Argyle Television,
ION Media Networks, LIN TV Corp., Media General, Meredith Corp.,
NBC Universal, PBS, Post-Newsweek Stations, Raycom Media, Schurz
Communications, Scripps Television Station Group, Sinclair
Broadcast Group and Sunbeam Television - have committed to
launching Mobile DTV services in 2009. Spanning 70 stations in 28
markets, the dedicated broadcasters will cover about 39 percent of
U.S. television households. The early launch stations are comprised
of 16 NBC affiliates, 10 ABC affiliates, 12 CBS affiliates, six FOX
affiliates, nine ION Television affiliates, nine PBS member
stations, four CW affiliates and four MyNetworkTV affiliates.
Flexible System Architecture, Variety of Business Models &
Limitless Convenience Opportunities In November 2008, the ATSC
approved the Candidate Standard for Mobile DTV. The Candidate
Standard is the result of an intense development effort involving
the OMVC and participants from all over the world and across
television and mobile device industries. The final steps in the
ATSC standardization process for Mobile DTV are expected to be
complete in mid-2009. Mobile DTV's benefits include crisp picture,
high-speed mobility and a wealth of live, local and national
programming at pedestrian and vehicular speeds. The technology will
simultaneously support many different services and business models,
such as linear and interactive video, as well as free ad-supported
and pay services. With content from both traditional media and Web
sources, these services will be part of the Mobile DTV experience,
just as they are part of consumers' experience at home. And, as the
technology is widely introduced, the need for accurate audience
measurement to correlate user demographic information with traffic
patterns like those offered by Nielsen and Rentrak will become
increasingly valuable in this new new media space. ABOUT THE OPEN
MOBILE VIDEO COALITION The Open Mobile Video Coalition is a
voluntary association of television broadcasters whose mission is
to accelerate the development of mobile digital television in the
United States. The OMVC is composed of twenty seven members that
own and operate over 450 commercial television stations, as well as
the Association of Public Television Stations, Corporation for
Public Broadcasting and the Public Broadcasting Service, which
represent an additional 360 public television stations. Membership
in the OMVC is open to all U.S.-based television broadcasters.
Members are committed to fostering open competition in the
development of products and services related to television. For
more information, please visit http://www.omvc.org/. OMVC MEMBER
COMPANIES Association of Public Television Stations Belo Corp.
(NYSE:BLC) Capitol Broadcasting Company, Inc. Corporation for
Public Broadcasting Cox Television Dispatch Broadcast Group Fisher
Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:FSCI) FOX Television Stations
(NYSE:NWS) Freedom Broadcasting, Inc. Gannett Broadcasting
(NYSE:GCI) Gray Television Inc. (NYSE:GTN) Hearst Argyle
Television, Inc. ION Media Networks, Inc. LIN TV Corp. (NYSE:TVL)
McGraw-Hill Broadcasting (NYSE:MHP) Meredith Corp. (NYSE:MDP)
Morgan Murphy Media Media General Inc. (NYSE:MEG) NPG Broadcast
Division NBC Universal -- NBC Station Group and Telemundo --
(NYSE:GE) Peachtree TV Post-Newsweek Stations (NYSE:WPO) Public
Broadcasting Service Raycom Media Schurz Communications, Inc.
Scripps Television Station Group Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.
(NASDAQ:SBGI) Sunbeam Television Corp. OMVC MEMBER ASSOCIATIONS
Association for Maximum Service Television National Association of
Broadcasters DATASOURCE: Open Mobile Video Coalition CONTACT: Anne
Schelle (at NAB), OMVC, , +1-443-857-0200; or Nancy Zakhary (at
NAB), Brainerd Communicators, , +1-917-734-3969; or Jennifer
Harris, Brainerd Communicators, , +1-212-986-6667 Web Site:
http://www.omvc.org/
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