NAB: Mobile TV providers angling to partner with local broadcasters

"I fully expect, before the end of this Washington showcase, at least one operator—but most likely more than one—to get involved," Aitken said. "What broadcasters don't have is a back channel. Mobile operators certainly have that capability."

According to Cedric Fernandes, vice president of technology at MobiTV, such a partnership could go well beyond operators extending a dumb data connection to local broadcasters. An operator could use its upstream channel to deliver dynamic tailored advertising to individual customers, something broadcasters couldn't do with their multicast transmissions, Fernandes said. Furthermore, operators have billing systems and customer relationships in place that broadcasters would want to tap into for on-demand and interactive TV transactions.

"I think for a service of this nature to gain critical mass, we are going to have to leverage the carriers," Fernandes said. "The big carriers in the US have an existing installed base and a loyal subscriber base. They know the OEMs and the market very well, and--very importantly--they have existing billing systems in place. When you go [mobile DTV], it's important that we can continue to leverage all of that infrastructure."

MobiTV isn't the only mobile TV programmer targeting the broadcaster. Satellite mobile TV operator ICO demoed dual-mode devices at CES that received both its premium satellite transmission and terrestrial broadcast DTV signals, opening the door for a TV service that delivered local channels for free and 'cable' channels for a subscription. LG is considering embedding broadcast DTV receivers into future video phones along with MediaFLO chips, which would allow an operator to sell a tiered TV service, offering local stations for free from the broadcasters and premium channels such as ESPN for a monthly fee. RaySat Broadcasting, which manages AT&T's CruiseCast satellite mobile TV service, has said it plans to incorporate local broadcasting into its service as well.

Also at NAB, Dell joined LG, Samsung, Kenwood and Visteon in releasing a DTV prototype device--this one in a notebook form-factor. So far, vendors have not produced any commercial devices for the upcoming broadcast mobile DTV networks, largely because the final standard has not been approved by NAB's Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). Sinclair's Aitken, who also serves as chair of the ATSC's handheld device working group, said the final standard should be finalized later this year, at which point commercial devices will not only start making their way to market, but also hundreds of other broadcasters likely will commit to the technology.