Solution supports Mobile500 Alliance business model while helping broadcasters get on the air quickly.

Mobile TV World

By James Doyle, 1/14/12

The 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show had a little bit of everything – from Microsoft’s sexy new Ultrabooks to Justin Bieber plugging a dancing robot.

Fear that the geek’s version of Disney Land was losing its lustre were quickly dispelled as record numbers, 3000 +, flocked to Las Vegas to see what the worlds leading technology developers had to offer.

While there were no ‘eureka’ moments, unless I missed them, there was an impressive collection of TV’s, tablets and mobile phones that had evolved from previous years. It was particularly encouraging to find that mobile TV had clearly been in developer’s thoughts.

Mobile TV has firmly established itself as the ‘nearly man’ of the industry with its game-changing potential previously being confined to whispers and afterthoughts in developers dream factories. Nonetheless, Mobile TV had a strong presence at CES 2012.

The consensus is still the same – mobile TV is coming – where, when and in what capacity still remains a labyrinth of questions answered with questions.

Promising signs were evident, with a more than modest collection of companies launching mobile products specifically designed with dedicated mobile TV attributes, namely devices specialised for positive reception.

Optimistic noises were coming from developers, with TV stations covering much of the U.S.said to be board with mobile TV. Apparently, their aim is to deliver programming to phones, tablets and laptops using a standard from the body that oversees TV technology in North America.

Mobile Content Venture (MCV), who is promising two stations in each market and the Mobile500 Alliance, said they have agreements in place with equipment vendors and mobile operators.

While that’s a step north certainly, the continuing frustration is that devices that can receive programming on such scale can be counted on one hand – and even at that, it remains to be seen if the issues with distribution rights can be hurdled, with only two stations in each market.

A fair demonstration was put on by MCV and Mobile500, citing devices and apps that they stated would bring flawless mobile TV to consumers by the close of 2012.

Broadcaster-owned MCV, which consists of leading TV stations across America, as well as, NBC and FOX, spoke of a deal with Belkin, who will develop accessories that enable smartphones and tablets to access Dyle Mobile TV.

The Mobile500 Alliance, comprising of Sinclair and a cluster of smaller station faculties, featured two dongles for turning smartphones and tablets into receivers. Both dongle receivers were demonstrated with Apple iPads — a small, white one from our friends at Siano and a more diminutive black unit made by Elgagto. Both receivers registered local signals with ease.

Although Apple did not officially have a presence at the event, their influence could be viewed from as far as the eye could see, which is as fitting a tribute as you could give to Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief Executive who lost his fight with cancer earlier this year.

Other points of interest included an eye catching showcase of portable flat-panel TVs compatible with Dyle Mobile TV and ATSC broadcasts being unveiled by RCA.

Also, American mobile phone service provider MetroPCS communications said that a Dyle-capable phone will be available in 14 cities this year. MetroPCS, which operates the fifth largest mobile telecommunications network in the US with 9 million subscribers, has been a long term advocate of mobile TV.

Many developers have been reluctant to jump in the deep-end of the mobile TV pool, most in-fact have been petrifed to tap their toe in the water, but the general feeling in Las Vegas this year was that with increasing broadcaster and third party backing – at least they will have armbands on when they finally decide to make the plunge.

The annual NAB Show always dazzles attendees with the latest broadcast innovations and gadgets, and this year was no exception.  The growing adoption of mobile television took center stage at this year’s show, with many vendors demonstrating new consumer devices that will hit stores this summer.

We caught up with John Lawson from the Mobile500 Alliance and asked about his company’s new mobile TV offerings.  The Mobile500 Alliance service includes 437 individual stations and reaches 94% of the U.S. population.  This summer, it will also be available via an iPhone/iPad app with the purchase of a small adapter, and will include over-the-air mobile TV broadcasts with no monthly fees or hefty mobile data charges.  It even includes DVR functionality to record and pause live TV!

Watch our interview with John Lawson and see a demo of the Mobile 500 service below:

Enhanced End to End Solution Enables Mobile500 Partner Broadcast Stations to Monetize Mobile Digital TV

LAS VEGAS – April 10, 2012 – The Mobile500 Alliance, an alliance of leading television broadcasters seeking to develop strong partnerships to accelerate the nationwide availability of a commercial mobile digital television service, today announced it will demonstrate its second generation Mobile Digital Television application at the 2012 NAB Show in Las Vegas. Enhancements to this version include social media integration, closed captioning, interstitials and interactive banners.

The banner advertisements incorporated into the main menu screen can be sold as static or interactive. This allows the consumer to click for additional information using fully interactive functionality while both the TV station application and programming remain operating in the background. This development enhances the experience by allowing the viewer to engage directly with advertisers while permitting the use of better creative and functionality. Using the Opanga platform, Video on Demand will include pre-roll inventory on local news clips. The Mobile500 Alliance has partnered with the Denver-based emerging media experts at Accelerated Media to develop and deploy interactive TV advertising and provide for the trafficking of local and national advertising, while providing an authoring system for easy modification and publishing of mobile (tablet and smartphone) and connected-TV applications.

The Alliance will also be demonstrating a new Micro-USB receiving device from Elgato for the iPad and iPhone.
Electronic Service Guide data is provided by BIM/Titan and continues to be delivered by Expway.

Conditional access and audience measurement will be incorporated for the soft launch slated for late June 2012. The Alliance will work with Nielsen, Rentrak and others to provide leadership with regards to audience measurement of Mobile Digital Television.

To set an appointment for a personal and comprehensive demonstration at Booth N4539, located in the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center in the Mobile DTV Pavilion, please contact Kirsten Hastings, Fisher Communications Inc., at khastings@fsci.com or 206-404-3365.

Product features include interactive advertising, audience measurement, social media integration and closed captioning.

LAS VEGAS, April 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — This week at the 2012 National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show, the Mobile500 Alliance, a broadcast consortium comprised of 50 member companies covering 94 percent of television households, detailed the business model and enhanced features for Mobile DTV, including new interactive advertising and an improved user experience that features social media integration with Twitter and closed captioning for the hearing impaired.

The Mobile500 Alliance has created the first end to end solution for live mobile TV that delivers free over the air television to mobile devices and allows broadcasters to quickly monetize their investment.  Broadcasting remains uniquely positioned to deliver video to viewers on the go as demand for mobile video continues to grow.  The Alliance’s business model incorporates features that appeal to consumers and broadcasters:

• Interactive advertising,
• Audience measurement,
• Conditional access for premium content,
• Social media integration,
• Closed captioning,
• Live viewing,
• Recording live TV, and
• Video-on-demand.

“We are keenly focused on delivering broadcast television to consumers when they want it and where they want it,” said Colleen Brown, chair of the Mobile500 Alliance board of directors and president and CEO of Fisher Communications, Inc. “Providing stations with advertising and audience data to evaluate their investment in Mobile DTV is a big step in the overall development of this new broadcast technology.”

Steve Lanzano, president of the Television Bureau of Advertising said, “Consumers spend more time with television than any other medium and they overwhelmingly want the ability to watch live programming on their mobile devices.  Advertisers are beginning to see Mobile DTV as the next great marketing opportunity.”

Mobile DTV Monetizes Through Existing Business Models

The involvement of Rentrak and Nielsen to provide audience measurement data for Mobile DTV is integral to monetizing the platform. “We’re thrilled to provide our census-based approach to measuring both on-demand and linear television to the Mobile500 Alliance trial,” said Cathy Hetzel, corporate president at Rentrak. “Mobile500 members will be able to quickly monetize viewing of local programming via the mobile platform and many of them already subscribe to Rentrak’s StationView Essentials service which enhances their ability to provide cumulative ratings to advertisers.”

With audience measurement from the ratings services, stations will realize a lift in ratings allowing them to realize a greater return on currently broadcast programs.

“Nielsen is pleased to start work with the Alliance to measure usage of this emerging medium,” stated Patrick Dineen, senior vice president, Nielsen. “Quality measurement will enable broadcasters to monetize this new market and we will work hand-in-hand with the industry to provide the information and insights our clients need to conduct business.”

Major US Automotive Manufacturer To Be First National Advertiser

For broadcasters, this platform provides advanced advertising capabilities that engage viewers with interactive functionality, video pre-roll and dynamic clickable banners.  The interactive campaign will feature the ability to request a test drive along with video galleries, lead generation, dealer locators, social media integration and more.  This will be the first national advertiser featured during the Mobile500 trials in Seattle and Minneapolis this summer.   Accelerated Media is partnering with the Mobile500 Alliance to sell and serve the interactive advertising on Mobile DTV stations across the country.  This provides a means to monetize the app and to serve interstitial ads between channel changes.  Member stations will share in national advertising revenue and have the opportunity to sell pre-roll advertising prior to local VOD content.

“As more viewers connect their TVs and mobile devices to the Internet, broadcasters have more options to create new revenue-generating opportunities through iTV advertising,” said Accelerated Media President and CTO Doug McGary. “Our partnership with the Mobile500 Alliance marks the importance of creating viewer involvement that leads to deeper engagement and higher levels of brand recall, purchase intent and product sales.”

Additionally, Mobile500 Alliance will support conditional access by allowing broadcasters to encrypt content delivered over the spectrum. Broadcasters have the flexibility to utilize conditional access only when and if needed, and it is transparent to the user.  The addition of conditional access will permit possible integration with other mobile services planned for launch in the U.S.  Conditional access is necessary for the addition of subscription channels and pay per view VOD.

“We are excited to provide the technology framework to support the launch of the first commercial mobile DTV service in the United States,” said Tim Dodd, vice president and general manager, Neustar Media. “We remain highly committed to our work with the Mobile500 Alliance to ensure that consumers can truly experience seamless and secure digital broadcast television on their mobile devices.”

Mobile DTV Gets Social

The app has incorporated Twitter into the viewing experience allowing consumers to read and send tweets while watching mobile digital television.

For viewers who are hearing impaired or are in a location where they cannot  have the sound on, Mobile DTV offers closed captioning that can be easily engaged with one click.

These developments advance the Mobile500 Alliance demonstration featured at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 8, 2012.

About the Mobile500 Alliance

The Mobile500 Alliance was incorporated in December 2010 with the goal of creating a new growth industry around Mobile DTV. The alliance has embraced a Statement of Principles for the MDTV industry calling for standards-based systems, software-based conditional access, and maximum interoperability. The Alliance currently has 50 member broadcasting companies, including four public broadcasters, which hold licenses to 437 television stations. The current DTV signals of these stations reach 94 percent of US TV households.