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NBC, Fox TVs Vow Mobile Launch In 20 DMAs

Led by the Mobile Content Venture, the O&Os and affiliates of the two networks will air at least two ad-supported mobile DTV channels in at least 20 markets by the end of 2011. The effort is aimed at encouraging the manufacture of mobile receivers and sparking consumer demand. MCV would not discuss what the programming will be, but industry sources said it will likely be simulcasts of the stations' conventional broadcasts. “The good news…is that we are finally getting going,” says MCV's Eric Moreno.  
TVNewsCheck,

In a move aimed at accelerating the introduction of mobile DTV, NBC and Fox O&Os and affiliates in at least 20 markets are promising today to broadcast at least two channels of free, ad-supported programming on the mobile platform by the end of 2011.

The effort is being led by the Mobile Content Venture, the joint venture of NBC, Fox and 10 major TV station groups that was formed earlier this year to develop and exploit the broadcasting-based mobile DTV technology.

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“The good news…is that we are finally getting going,” said Erik Moreno, co-general manager of MCV and a Fox executive, in an interview with TVNewsCheck yesterday evening.

“We think this [announcement] will unleash a significant amount of pent-up energy, a desire to invest and participate broadly across the ecosystem, from the broadcasters to the OEMs to the content owners and eventually, frankly, to the consumers, who hopefully will love this product.”

The 20 markets include 13 of the top 15 and will cover 40% of the population. The markets: New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Philadelphia; San Francisco; Dallas; Washington; Atlanta; Houston; Detroit; Tampa; Phoenix; Minneapolis; Orlando; Portland, Ore.; Cincinnati; Greenville, S.C.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; Birmingham, Ala.; and Knoxville, Tenn.

In addition to NBC and Fox O&Os, other groups involved in the 20-market roll out include Cox, Gannett, Post-Newsweek, Media General, Meredith, Belo, Raycom, Hearst and Scripps. All are partners in MCV.

To get the 40 signals on the air, said Salil Dalvi, the other co-general manager of MCV and an NBC Universal executive, the participating broadcasters are making a significant investment in their stations.

It’s “real money ahead of a revenue model and ahead of a real business,” he said, but it’s needed to get mobile DTV off the ground. He declined to discuss the size of the investment.

Dalvi pointed out that the 40 channels were just the start. “We expect that number to grow fairly sizably, fairly quickly,” he said. But to get things moving, he added, “We wanted to may sure that we were vocal about what we were doing sooner rather than later.”

The programming will be advertiser-supported and free to consumers, but what that programming will be is still something of a mystery.

Neither Moreno nor Salil Dalvi would discuss the programming. “We will make more specific comments about our content in the coming months,” said Dalvi.

According to industry sources familiar with the situation, MVC expects the programming will be simulcasts of the stations’ conventional broadcast service, but that neither Fox nor NBC has gotten all the clearances they need from the holders of network programming copyrights, including the National Football League.

In fact, according to some industry sources, the real significance of the MVC announcement today is that it marks a commitment by NBC and Fox to clear the mobile rights to their programming so that all their O&Os and affiliates can air it on the mobile platform.

Mobile DTV is broadcast TV’s entry into mobile video. Using on a standard developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee and a small portion of their digital channels, TV stations have demonstrated in trials that they can broadcast full-motion video to smart phones and other mobile devices even in moving cars. The devices must, of course, contain mobile DTV receivers.

NBC and Fox have been leaders in trying to bring the technology to market through the MCV.

Smaller broadcasters interested in mobile DTV have coalesced into the Mobile500 Alliance. Now representing some 40 groups with more than 400 stations, it’s headed by Colleen Brown, CEO of Fisher Communications, and Executive Director John Lawson.

Dalvi and Salil said the MCV wants to work with the Mobile500 and is actively involved in discussions with its members.

“A lot of Fox and NBC affiliates are in the Mobile500 group,” said Moreno. “Ultimately, the two groups are committed to being able to make this offering available to consumers…in a completely compatible and seamless way.”

Between the stations of MCV and the Mobile500, the mobile DTV service would cover virtually all of the United States.

In an e-mail received last night, Lawson of the Mobile500 applauded the MCV initiative. “Upgrading local stations and bringing network and other content to the Mobile DTV platform are important milestones in the continued roll out of this service,” he said.

"Only mobile DTV from broadcasters can bring real TV -- live, local, and complete -- to people on the go. MCV’s commitment to scale up this service to 20 major markets is very good news for American consumers. 

Lawson also confirmed that MCV and the Mobile500 were talking. “We look forward to future industry announcements as the roll out of Mobile DTV gains momentum."

NBC and Fox had originally envisioned mobile DTV as a pay service, but, according to Dalvi, they have come to see the wisdom of offering it as a free, advertiser-supported service -- at least initially.

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Comments (6) -

james chladek posted a year ago
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NO IF THE BROADCASTER ARE SMART , BUY FLO MEDIA, AND CONVERT IT OMVC. IIF THE BROADCASTERS ARE SMART, BUY FLO MEDIA, AND COVERT IT TO OMVC THE PRICE IS RIGHT
PhillyPhlash Nickname posted a year ago
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Has any broadcast TV executive considered a crash engineering project to make ATSC backwardly compatible with mobile applications? Why not use technological ingenuity to restore full mobility to broadcast TV? And don't tell me a retrofit is not technically possible. If engineers could squeeze color TV into the old NTSC, they can use digital compression/buffering to make ATSC work with mobile devices. No one has tried, because the greedsters thought they'd get away with killing off OTA television. That will never happen.
EricPost Nickname posted a year ago
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A better question is why did they ever approve a system that couldn't be used on a mobile device like analog TV could. I don't understand any of this. A fifth grader could see how many major errors were made and they keep making them. Worse I bet no one was ever called on the carpet for this. They don't see format changes as a problem. This way you can sell that "Meet The Beatles" album in one more format and that "Lion King" dvd in another format and than complain about declining sales, instead of creating new things
Rocker Nickname posted a year ago
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Analog TVs were not mobile-capable. There's a difference between "portable" and "mobile".
NightRider Nickname posted a year ago
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I don't see this happening as OTA TV will be a thing of the past, very soon. As the FCC gobbles up spectrum for the broadband plan, broadcasters will be turning off their transmitters. Without a transmitter there can be no mobile DTV. And if they move broadcasters to the VHF band, mobile DTV won't get off the ground. The other issue is if OTA should survive, slim chance of this, the copyrights will kill it. Program providers don't need to give broadcasters access to their programs since they have already supplied a pipeline via broadband and have their own paid subscribers. I don't see broadcasters spending money to enhance their transmitters on technology that is going away.
tom driggers posted a year ago
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KAIL TV, Fresno, CA is currently broadcasting 2 mobile channels on Channel 7, VHF, and it works fairly well. A power upgrade and change to an eliptical polarized transmission antenna are in the works to correct some minor signal issues.

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