Mobile DTV’s Quality, Local Content Could Boost Its Viewership, Broadcasters Say

SAN FRANCISCO -- Improved video quality and local content provided by TV stations broadcasting mobile signals could help boost the audience for mobile video and increase the amount of time viewers spend watching video on mobile devices, said broadcast executives pushing the technology. An average mobile video viewer watches now VoD or streaming video content for 30 minutes a day, said Sam Matheny, general manager of Capitol Broadcasting’s News Over Wireless. “If you're able to put this HD quality, no buffering signal on our handset, we really think we're going to be able to dramatically increase that."

Mobile DTV viewers are generally watching during the day and adding to the total amount of time they spend watching programming, results from a consumer showcase in Washington, D.C., run by the Open Mobile Video Coalition show. That’s according to Glen Friedman, a senior adviser to Rentrak, which is collecting viewership data during the showcase. Local TV news has been the most popular genre of programming watched by mobile DTV viewers, which bodes well for the service even though Qualcomm’s FLO TV product failed to attract enough viewers (CED Oct 6 p6), he said. “Local news is an important component and FLO didn’t have this component."

Full mobile DTV service will be the final step of the DTV transition, Methany said. At Capitol, “we don’t think we're done with the digital transition,” he said. “We think Mobile DTV is the last part of the DTV transition.” As a member of the Mobile500 Alliance, the company is working with other station groups to get mobile signals on the air, he said. The alliance will soon take stock of its members’ mobile DTV progress, said Colleen Brown, Fisher Communications CEO and chair of the alliance. So far, the group has focused on attracting more members and getting people to turn on the service, she said. The alliance is also talking regularly with device makers “mostly because they've been calling,” she said.

Broadcasters will have to improve their over-the-air coverage in certain cities to provide a reliable mobile service, said Sandhi Kozsuch, director of mobile broadcasting for Cox Media Group. “There are some markets where, because of geography, we do know we'll have to put in repeaters.” It’s an easy process and broadcasters can create computer models before introducing service to learn where they will have coverage problems, he said. More media companies could join the Mobile Content Venture, which includes Fox, NBC Ion and nine of the largest TV station groups, Kozsuch said. “If you compare it to Hulu, there was the initial launch, and a year later” other partners joined, he said. “Anything is possible in the future.”