The long and short of mobile TV: An opportunity for Sling?

The mobile TV market will probably be a big topic in the coming weeks following news that EchoStar plunked down $711 million for 168 E-Block licenses in the recently completed 700 MHz auction. EchoStar is still under a gag order and can’t speak to its plans for the spectrum yet, but we can certainly speculate.
Click here for complete 700 MHz auction coverage.
The biggest conjecture among the RCR Wireless News editorial staff: AT&T Mobility is holding off on offering MediaFLO TV services because it plans to buy EchoStar and use that spectrum to deploy Sling Media services, effectively giving AT&T the triple play: broadband, TV and mobility.
(OK, this may be a bit farfetched, but there is some history here: Last year EchoStar’s stock rose on rumors that AT&T would buy it; and AT&T already owns 700 MHz spectrum from Aloha Partners; and Aloha was planning to use that spectrum to deploy DVB-H mobile TV.)
What we do know for sure is that EchoStar is interested in wireless. After all, EchoStar already owns Sling Media. The Dish Network satellite TV provider paid $380 million for the place-shifting technology company in September. Sling Media has been working to bring its SlingPlayer Mobile technology to a number of cellphones, and is setting its sites on BlackBerry devices this year. Indeed, six megahertz of E-Block spectrum may be enough to broadcast a service like SlingPlayer Mobile.
Sling Media could be just the catalyst the wireless industry needs to ramp up mobile TV. Because for all of the analyst reports about pent-up demand for mobile TV, the reality today is a little less encouraging. Although MediaFLO hasn’t released its numbers, some estimates peg it at around 50,000 subscribers, while MobiTV recently said it passed the 3 million mark. That’s not much in a nation where doctors have linked obesity to watching too much TV.
Like successful content apps before it (think ringtones and text messaging) all of the tools — networks, pricing, content — have to be in place for a service to explode. The long and short of it is SlingPlayer Mobile is cool, and that could go a long way in helping mobile TV realize its potential.