Free TV for cell phones and mobile devices

Free TV service could soon be coming to a cell phone near you.

Broadcasters announced Monday at the National Association of Broadcaster's annual conference in Las Vegas that a new pilot program is launching in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area that will allow people to watch free mobile digital television on cell phones and other mobile devices.

Local affiliate stations for CBS, NBC, PBS, Ion, and Fox will broadcast their programs beginning in late summer for mobile devices, which includes cell phones, laptops and car entertainment systems.

Broadcasters throughout the country are switching to all-digital transmission in June as part of a government mandate. And as part of the switch, some broadcasters will also broadcast their over-the-air TV signals on a digital sub-channel for mobile devices. The standard that will be used to transmit the signal is called ATSC Mobile DTV. And the hope is that consumer electronics makers, like cell phone manufacturers, will include the technology in their products so that they can receive the signals.

The trial in the Baltimore-Washington area is expected to kick off later this summer. But it's only the first step toward offering free mobile DTV. Broadcasters in 28 markets, including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston and Atlanta, said they will be broadcasting their signals in mobile DTV.

The biggest hurdle for the new mobile TV service is building a viable ecosystem of products and services around the technology. For example, right now there are no devices that even support mobile DTV. But some companies have built prototypes. LG and Samsung have already been showing off mobile DTV handsets. Dell is showing off an Inspiron Mini10 Netbook PC with a built-in Mobile TV tuner at the NAB show. And other consumer electronics products have also been shown off at the Consumer Electronics Show and CTIA, both of which took place earlier this year.

But devices won't likely get into the hands of consumers, unless U.S. carriers subsidize and sell them. And that might be harder to achieve than actually building the devices. In the U.S., wireless operators control the cell phone market. They subsidize handsets and determine which features are available on which devices.

Today, three of the four major wireless operators already offer their own mobile TV services. AT&T, Sprint Nextel, and Verizon Wireless each sell TV packages for around $10 to $15 per month. These services include a mix of live TV as well as on-demand programming and specialized mobile-only content.

MobiTV, which supplies the back-end for many of these mobile TV services, says a hybrid approach is needed to get operators on board.

"The biggest problem with Mobile DTV is getting the ecosystem in place," said Kay Johansson, CTO of MobiTV. "Right now the service bypasses the carrier. And if there is nothing in it for them, there isn't an incentive for them to offer it."

On Monday, MobiTV announced that it's partnering with Sinclair and PBS to create a hybrid mobile TV service it is calling, MixTV. The MixTV business model combines free mobile DTV with a subscription based seven-day window of on-demand programming. MobiTV is demonstrating how this service would look at the NAB conference this week. The company is also showing off how a hybrid approach could allow broadcasters, mobile operators, and content providers more interactive and personal ways to advertise to consumers.

While MobiTV has grown its mobile TV viewership by at least 100 percent in the last year, the number of people subscribing to such services is still relatively small. At the end of 2008, MobiTV had about 6 million subscribers. But analysts predict that mobile TV market could grow to 50 million users in the next few years. Johansson believes that a hybrid service that offers free local TV shows with premium cable programming, on-demand programming, and made for mobile content will grow the market the fastest.

"I don't think you could reach the 50 million subscriber mark with free-to-air mobile TV alone," he said. "I think you could with a subscription service. But the MixTV model combined with personalized and interactive advertising could accelerate adoption."

[skspartan117]

Great, and after this goes through, car crashes will multiply 10X, just another distraction people need in their vehicles...

[BlitzBoy1120]

Obviously that won't happen. By government regulation, cars have to be parked in order to play video for the driver and front passenger.

[jimhonsberger]

After my experience with mobitv powering the iphone March Madness video app which was a disaster I would
hope that some other companies would take some interest in powering these feeds

[aka_tripleB]

This would be completely different. This is just a scaled down signal of the broadcast that television stations send out. If you can pick up the signal, it won't be affected by how many people are watching (especially in any specific area), unlike your March Madness app.

[ricster131]

i dont see why people dont use www.orbcast.com it's free and you can get a lot more thing and all you need is a internet connection.

[monkeyfun14]

Because if people had a internet connection they might as well watch their tv's?

[El_Segfaulto]

Orb is Windows and Mac only, although us third party mutants (Linux users) feel a bit slighted we shall trudge on.

[dumbspammers]

This is not free. Not unless the broadcasters plan to pay for my air time, and somehow I can't imagine them giving up some of their precious pocket change to do that.

It's yet another solution in search of a problem,

[sjohnson29]

I don't think this is using airtime. It sounds to me like this is just like broadcast over the air commercial TV. So it would be free. The caveat is that they need to build TV tuners into cellphones to make them into portable televisions. That's why the cell carriers wouldn't back it--they wouldn't get anything out of it.

[mikeburek]

I'm pretty sure there will be commercials just like regular over-the-air TV. And, hey, people pay for cable and still watch lots of TV ads. There will be ads associated with this.

[Firehazel]

it woyld be free because its a substandard in the ATSC standard. do your research, DUMBspammers.

[JCPayne]

Wireless carriers wont want to carry this if it is a free-over-air service and it possibly canibalizes the wireless company's services. Roughly $15-$30 would be at stake for unlimited Internet plus the cost of MobITV. Personally I'd just take AppleTV if they would add JumpTV to the device.

[animeman59]

Samsung and LG already have the devices capable to play over the air digital TV. They already have this services in South Korea. It's called DMB and cellphone carriers in the US should take a lesson from the Koreans on how to offer this great service to the public.

I can watch MBC, and KBS on the bus on my way to work. It's awesome.

[Rothensticks]

But can you pick up "Let's All Cut Our Hair Like the Great Leader?"

[ralfthedog]

Rothensticks,

South != North.

[stevicus]

Look at Japan. Japan has had this for several years now. The carrier's embraced it and subsidized it. I'd wager that at least 50% of all new hand sets have a "one-seg" tuner.

[mkurz12]

I didn't read the entire article and I agree with a poster above it won't be free as your either paying for the paln that supports it's useage or your paying per MB downloaded.
Also....C'mon...anyone actually think that verizon won't block their phones from allowing this. Sure they'll be more than willing un block it for another $14.99 a month! BASTARDS!!!!!!
To bad their service is so much better than everyone elses in my area. I would love to go to AT&T and get to choose a decent phone from a selection of decent phones that don't have every last option blocked unless you pay more money every month. Yeah AT&T charges for it's applications too but they also give you the chice to use another developers applications..which are normally free or at least a one time paymetn apposed to monthly.

[NervClaX]

Since ATSC Mobile DTV isn't broadcast over a cellular network, cell phones are just ONE of the devices we may see this on. Trying to stop people from watching a free over-the-air broadcast would be futile. No doubt, people will be able to watch DTV on more than just cell phones, so it is in the carriers' best interest to add tuners to their devices. Otherwise, people will buy new devices just for free TV and ignore the for-pay video service their carrier provides completely.

Personally, I would like to see Sony release a tuner much like the one-seg tuner available in Japan for the PSP. Nintendo could do the same for the DS and DSi. DTV would be popular on PMP devices, too. I would LOVE a little OLED TV for the cubicle.

[sting7k]

So I live in the DC area, what will I need to be able to pick up these signals from the local stations? I have an iPhone, I'm assuming you will need some kind of special hardware to pick it up; meaning a new phone.

[Elroy Jr]

It's interesting how they chose the DC/Baltimore area. I see Dept. of Homeland Security involvement here. If people need emergency information and their MobiTV service is bogged down due to cellular service disruption (I know, we have it for Verizon), then the mobile ATSC service may be the savings grace to get info out to the public. I live in MD and it?s nice to hear that my area as a test bed for something like this. Bring on the free mobile digital TV!!!

[miniguy]

Soooo, its a digital tv receiver. Receiving digital atsc signals that are already being broadcast, which chipsets already exist for. Why is this news? you can buy a USB receiver right now, stick the tuner chipset into any device with a screen and presto, you have this. The only benefit I can see is if you put micro ATSC transmitters in cell towers so coverage is more uniform, other than that, this is a solution looking for a problem.

[Elroy Jr]

Nooooo, it's not just a digital TV receiver. If you ever watched TV using a service like Verizon VCast on your cell phone, that is what it will be like. It is a lot different than a full 720p - 5.1 digital broadcast of the Super Bowl or Nascar on your HDTV. Different signal, image resolution, and programming.

[tmccool]

Johansson is a shill for the wireless providers. Does he really think that consumers don't want FREE TV on their cellphones? What an idiot!!! Wireless providers will add the FREE content to their paid subscription content, jack the price up 25%, and tell consumers how great it is that they're being SCREWED!!!

[undacovabrotha]

I took a look at m.getjar.com on my mobile device and didn't find anything for software relating to ATSC Mobile DTV. Any idea where I can find it?

[TimGray--2008]

I solve the problem by only buying UNLOCKED cellphones. AT&T cant do anything to me as I own my phone. they cant lock it like they do with their phones. I have lots of friends that drool all over my Nokia as it does things they wish theirs did.

it can, AT&T disabled those features. Nice of them eh?

[Firehazel]

I say let the government step in and not allow cell carriers to cauterize ANY features of phones, those damned extortionists(not the government, the cell carriers, esp Verizon! those b******s! A pox on their heads!)

[ralfthedog]

An unlocked phone will not help. This requires new hardware.

[Firehazel]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ATSC-M/H
to learn more, people!

[ralfthedog]

This is why we need software radio in cell phones. When new standards come out (Lets say Edge to 3g) You download new software and your cellphone is upgraded. No new hardware required. The same hardware that connects to your cell network would be able to receive ATSC Mobile.

[JohnH_in_OKC]

Mobile DTV is one of several new technologies that I plan to have on my next phone. T-Mobile has no financial ties to MediaFlo like AT&T and Verizon, so I am sure it will incorporate free TV into many of its LG & Samsung phones and probably phones from other suppliers. Samsung has introduced a new Omnia HD phone incorporating an 8 megapixel camera, HD video recording, a 3.7" Capacitive AMOLED touchscreen, and 720p output to compatible HDTV's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Omnia_HD
Hopefully, my next phone will incorporate all of the above Omnia HD features plus Mobile DTV and AGPS geotagging of pictures & video.

Currently I am using a Nokia 6133 which has an excellent built-in FM tuner. After buying an add-on earbud headset which incorporates an FM antenna, I discovered I never want to buy another phone without an FM tuner. SiPort has just introduced a very low power chip that will enable mobile devices to receive regular FM plus HD radio.
http://news.thomasnet.com/fullstory/557541
HD radio capability and a great music player will likely be included in my next phone.

I also miss my Sidekick 2's fantastic keyboard and full Internet access. The new Sidekick LX 2009 will have a great keyboard plus 3G, GPS, Flash video, support for 32 gig microSD, Flash & Java support for Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube (including both watching videos & uploading videos).
http://news.cnet.com/new-t-mobile-sidekick-lx-touts-3g-gps-flash-video-oh-my/
All of these features plus haptic capacitive touchscreen with multitouch & accelerometer & multitasking should be on my next phone. I expect my phone's GPS to include mapping software that includes POI (with gas station prices), traffic alerts with immediate rerouting, & text to voice (street names announced).

This week the Bluetooth 3.0 High Speed (HS) protocol was ratified and the first compatible chip solution was announced. The 3.0 standard will allow Bluetooth connections to utilize a phone's 802.11 Wi-fi connection. I anticipate all new 3.0 Bluetooth phones to include 802.11n capability at a minimum.
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Bluetooth-30-Offers-8X-the-Speed-837549/
Bluetooth 3.0 with 802.11n are features included in my next phone.

Four other tech innovations are coming that I hope will be on my phone: 4g (either WiMax or LTE), free tethering (plugging in my laptop into my phone's USB), USB 3.0 connection for both battery recharging & computer connection, and Near Field Communication which allows a cell phone to connect to POS (point of sale cash registers) to purchase goods and services. All phones should utilize a standard 3.5" stereo/microphone headset connector.

I hope some mobile phone maker combines all the above features into a great & affordable phone.

John Hite, Oklahoma City

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