Local broadcasters successful in mobile DTV trials

“It is point-to-multipoint and the stations consumers already know,” Mullen said. “There’s also local brand recognition and the marketing of the service at a local level.”

Both Schelle and Mullen stressed that what consumers want first on mobile is local content. The OMVC’s consumer surveys and national trials have indicated that consumers want what they already know when and where they want it. The concept of short YouTube-like clips isn’t winning subscribers, but the full spectrum of TV choices combined with local content is, according to Schelle. The OMVC plans to have broad support for mobile DTV on a number of prototype devices at January’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

“It is especially exciting because the average churn for a cell phone is two years when the contract is up,” Mullen said, adding that if handset manufacturers get the chipsets embedded in the next-generation of handsets, everyone could have the service available within the next few years.