"Inevitable:" New way to describe Mobile DTV in the US. 40% of population to have MDTV before 2012

I've been party to discussions on several public forums and in person regarding mobile digital TV (MDTV).  Many of them seem to pit people from the cellular world against the broadcast world.  The arguments from the cellular side, if I could be so bold to summarize are: "you will fail if you don't make the end user pay for every bit that goes through your network." 

The broadcast-based proponents are saying, "the free-to-air/advertiser supported business model has been pretty successful for nearly a century. MDTV is just a little more of the same."

Who knows? The cellular guys could be absolutely right. But that doesn't seem to actually make a difference to the broadcasters, who seem to be pressing on, regardless.  The latest news is from the Mobile Content Venture (MCV) is a commitment to turn on 40 MDTV stations in 20 markets by the end of 2011. The announcement promised:

"...a commitment to upgrade TV stations in 20 DMAs in order to deliver live video to portable devices.  By late 2011, the venture will deliver mobile video service in markets representing more than 40% of the US population.  The service will initially consist of at least two ad-supported free-to-consumer [emphasis added] channels in each market. Additional channels and markets are expected to be added over time.

In 2011, MCV expects to offer the mobile video service in the following markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Houston, Detroit, Tampa, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Orlando, Portland, Cincinnati, Greenville, West Palm Beach, Birmingham, and Knoxville.

MCV looks like some heavy hitters to me.  It's a joint venture of  12 major broadcasters and network owned-and-operated (O&O) stations that includes Fox, ION Television, NBC and Pearl Mobile DTV, LLC. The Pearl member companies include: Belo Corp., Cox Media Group, E.W. Scripps Co., Gannett Broadcasting, Hearst Television Inc., Media General Inc., Meredith Corp., Post-Newsweek Stations Inc. and Raycom Media.

In an article in TVNewsCheck.com, author Harry A. Jessel quotes Salil Dalvi, co-general manager of MCV:

"A free service would speed consumer acceptance and encourage the manufacture of devices able to receive the service, Dalvi said. “We recognize that this is a product that is going to have zero subscribers, zero users on day one.

“One of the key elements of the ecosystem is to get going with devices,” said Dalvi. “The best catalyst for doing that was to make content available at no direct cost to the consumer other than the device itself… so that [they] have that opportunity…to sample the product and get accustomed to consuming the content on the platform.”

What does this mean? Exactly what I've been saying here: Consumers are ready for the ad-supported free-to-air business model and broadcasters (and advertisers and program producers) all understand how it works. All the same people who've been working together for years continue working together in exactly the same way they're accustomed to.

Just as important as consumers getting a taste of the service is the clear signal to semiconductor and consumer products vendors to start making a variety of equipment. And with players like FOX and NBC, those vendors will start noticing.

Mobile DTV prospects improve: people remember commercials (plus: video of actual Mobile DTV receivers)

OK, who doesn't love their TiVo or other Digital Video Recorder (DVR) that allows them to skip past all the commercials.  Or watching online? When you can go do something else until the commercial is over? One of the greatest inventions besides the television, right?  All it takes is a huge hard disk drive to store up all your favorite TV shows and let you skip forward and back through them.

Well, digital video recorders are great inventions unless you're an advertiser who wants you to watch their commercials or you run a TV station that relies on the money from those (increasingly less-effective) advertisements.

Now comes Mobile DTV, which is designed to go into a small package that operates from a battery like the Samsung Moment below.

It has a receiver, it has a screen, it has an antenna and a channel selector. But it doesn't have a giant hard drive, and, therefore, it doesn't let you skip the commercials or record your programs for later.  Mobile DTV is, at this point, back-to-the-50s TV that runs program in specified time slots and if you miss it you miss it. And if you want to watch, you have to watch the commercials, too.

Which is, I suspect, why advertisements on Mobile DTV devices are so effective, according to this article by Joe Mandese from Media Daily News. The article says the TV Bureau of Advertising ran several public service announcement commercials during the DTV Showcase in Washington DC.  Commercials were shown as 30-second anti-drunk driving PSAs, along with banner ads on the channel selection page and during the few seconds of dead air while the channel changes.

And the exciting news from this test is... PEOPLE REMEMBER SEEING THE ADVERTISEMENTS! Which is a really big deal if you are buying or selling advertising.

Recall of anti-drunk driving advertising by mobile phone users in the Showcase more than doubled, from 15% prior to the launch of the campaign to 34% post-campaign. 

The majority of users who recalled seeing the ads saw them while they were out of home (69%). 

A large number also recalled that they'd seen the ads when away from their homes.  According to the article, here's what this all means for Mobile DTV:

Abby Auerbach -- the executive vice president and CMO of the TVB, who oversaw the bureau's participation in the project -- said that the fact that more than two-thirds of viewers said they saw the spots while they were out-of-home was especially encouraging for advertisers and local TV broadcasters, because it means mobile may actually extend the reach of local television to places and at times when viewers aren't otherwise able to watch it. In essence, she said, the digital platform is a net positive for local broadcasters and advertisers, not a negative.

She said more research needs to be done on when, where and how consumers utilize mobile digital TV, but that the initial finds are very encouraging for the broadcast TV industry, which is working with the OMVC to try to convince consumer electronics manufacturers -- especially cell phone, smartphone and hand-held computing device manufacturers -- to install special chips and receivers into their devices that will enable the mass market to access digital mobile TV signals.

Some of the people who were watching those ads were were using a Samsung Moment smartphone that was specially equipped to receive the signals.  Here's a YouTube YouTube video from Samsung that shows the Moment in use.  Most interesting to me is the external antenna.

I'm interested in Mobile DTV, but how can I get it?

I'm so glad you asked that.  Because I wasn't even certain how and where to get started with Mobile DTV, myself.  All you have to do is two simple things:

1. Buy a compatible receiver.  It's not hard to find something if you go onto amazon.com and search for "Mobile DTV." There are a variety of devices already available. MyGoTV.com also has handheld Mobile DTV receivers but seems to be sold out. 
2. Move to a city where there local broadcasters have deployed Mobile DTV using the ATSC M/H standard. It's not every city yet.  Here is a pretty good list of cities from RabbitEars.com. Look for the green logo that indicates the service has launched. 

For a receiver, you could choose a complete Mobile DTV player from LG. Or, if you just wanted to add the reception capability to your laptop computer, you could get a USB receiver from Coby.

Of course, you have to be in a place where you can get a signal.  You're can pick from five different Mobile DTV stations if  you're in New York City or Charlotte, NC.  Los Angeles or Philadelphia have three stations each and you'd hit the jackpot in Washington, DC, where there are seven televisions offering 16 channels including Fox News, PBS, MTV and Nickelodeon. In all, 14 of the top 20 markets have operating Mobile DTV stations today.

For me, I'd have to move to some other city.  Not only are there no mobile DTV stations in operation, there aren't even any on the drawing board, according to the RabbitEars.com list.

Mobile DTV Deployment "Too Good to Be True?"

A recent article in Broadcast and Cable described the deployment of Mobile Digital Television (Mobile DTV) as being surprisingly easy. The article, written by George Winslow, said:

"It's been an almost too good to be true kind of experience," notes Ardell Hill, president of broadcast operations at Media General. "From the day we issued the purchase order to the folks at Harris Corp. to the day we went on the air was inside two months. To have a new technology like this, installed, turned on, tested and on the air in six or seven weeks is a pretty significant accomplishment. 

Combine that with the fact that the cost of deployment is fairly low -- said to be in the neighborhood of $100,000 -- and you have the ingredients for a quick rollout.

There have been some Mobile DTV rollout announcements lately. WGBH in Boston announced its system is operation and Media General announced it had launched MDTV in Columbus, Ohio as well.

Now all we need are enough devices to get a measurable audience.

Mobile DTV a step closer as market test concludes

Mobile Digital Television (Mobile DTV) underwent a trial in Washington D.C. for the past six months and consumers seem to really like it.  In fact, a survey by the Open Mobile Video Coalition found that most consumers didn't want to turn their test devices back in.

In a press release (.pdf), the OMVC also found:

• The most popular mobile program is local news. Mobile DTV is primarily watched during the work week, and local news leads viewing by number of episodes and total unique viewers. 
• Viewers reported increased TV watching outside of the home, including while commuting on public transportation, during lunch breaks in the middle of the day, and while waiting at the doctor’s office or supermarket. 
• They also watched at home when others were watching the family big-screen TV 
• Viewers didn’t want to relinquish their Mobile DTV devices when their portion of the trial had come to a close.

Unfortunately, the test was conducted using cellphones equipped with Mobile DTV receivers, which reinforces that (incorrect) assumption that mobile TV is somehow associated with mobile phones... it's not.  The OMVC should start encouraging further testing with dedicated portable TV devices, external receiver "dongles" for notebook computers and automotive devices wherever possible to get a better view of the potential consumer behavior.

Better yet, let's just get this show on the road and start make the deployment of commercial Mobile DTV a priority.

What we're doing here

I've been covering mobile applications, devices and networks for over 15 years and have gotten a pretty good idea about what will work and what won't, particularly in the US.  We've seen plenty of fads, fantastic ideas, and just poor thinking in the name of chasing down the dollars from the pockets of mobile consumers.

One of my favorite topics, though, is mobile video.  At this point, I think it is one of the most misunderstood topics, in part because it's so difficult to define.  All of these things are fit the definition of mobile video and TV.

• MobiTV and GoTV, which stream video content to mobile phones
• MediaFLO and DVB-H, which use a separate broadcast network to send TV shows to mobile phones
• 1-Seg, the extremely popular mobile TV station that works a lot like MediaFLO but it's free. Comes from Japan but gaining a foothold in South America as well.
• Mobile Digital TV which in the US, will soon be available using the ATSC Mobile/Handheld specification

The one I think has the greatest chance in the US right now is Mobile DTV for one primary reason: It uses exactly the same business model that has been since commercial broadcasting started in the 1920s. An advertiser supports the production of original content by paying the broadcaster. The signal is received at no additional charge via a receiver purchased from a consumer electronics store. It will work because it has worked for over 80 years.

The other alternatives rely on so many new connections, new business models, new relationships among the players (and new players) and make the one huge jump that consumers are resisting: paying for something that has been otherwise free.

I'll have a lot more on this, but this is my mobile video manifesto... a lot of things will start from these assumptions.