The mobile TV consortium Mobile Content Venture (MCV) has taken the first step towards the important challenge of unifying and branding compatible mobile TV devices with the new "Dyle" designation.
Currently there is no unifying umbrella for identifying if a mobile product is indeed capable of receiving OTA broadcasts from local affiliates. MCV was formed this year to address these needs. The organization is made up of 12 broadcast groups (including Cox, Gannett and Hearst) with the goal of spreading awareness of local TV for mobile and to allow consumers to identify products that are set to receive a local broadcast signal. Starting later this year, when a consumer sees the Dyle logo on a product, they know that there is built-in capability to receive local digital broadcasts from their affiliates. Currently there are lots of features listed and buzzwords on mobile device boxes, but this new initiative will offer unity and ease of understanding for customers. Local affiliates are a big part of the future of mobile TV, and this transition will help ease it along. There is huge potential for ad revenue and local advertising once U.S. consumers accept mobile TV broadcasts on their portable devices in mass numbers.
Units with the Dyle name will be capable of receiving and decrypting live mobile TV signals, with no additional add-ons, for all local ATSC M/H DTV transmissions. Research shows that mobile TV will ramp up considerably in the next several years, with many firms targeting 30 million plus ATSC devices out there by 2014. The MCV is hoping to avoid confusion and allow customers to clearly see which devices are capable and which are not, which is more important now that so many phone and tablet products are being released from so many different companies. And we can be sure there are many, many more to coming in the next year or two with new releases announced seemingly weekly these days in the technology sectors. This new designation will be able to brand them and ensure consumers know that they are getting a device capable of receiving free local television.
