The first wave of mobile digital television broadcasting will break in 2009 with the commitment of broadcasters to launch mobile DTV across 63 stations in 22 markets, covering 35 percent of U.S. television households, the Open Mobile Video Coalition said.
During an OMVC press conference Jan. 8 at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the alliance of broadcasters backing mobile DTV announced that 14 of the stations will be NBC affiliates, nine ABC affiliates, nine CBS affiliates, five FOX affiliates, nine ION Television affiliates, four CW affiliates and four MyNetworkTV affiliates. Nine additional PBS stations are in discussions with the OMVC to join the 2009 launch.
The OMVC put on a live demonstration of mobile DTV broadcasting to show the feasibility of the ATSC Mobile DTV Candidate Standard. Several Las Vegas TV stations broadcast a variety of programming using transmission equipment from Harris to ATSC-compliant mobile devices made by LG Electronics and Samsung Electronics.
The OMVC and ATSC recently announced acceptance of a Candidate Standard for mobile DTV that will be tested in multiple market trials during 2009, revised as needed and proposed as a final standard by midyear.
For more information, visit www.omvc.org.
