@ NAB: Mobile TV making headway, but carrier support ultimately needed

LAS VEGAS – Mobile broadcast TV is making headway in the United States, with more than 60 broadcast networks offering service in a couple dozen markets, but scale will only come to the market when wireless operators embrace the concept, panelists at the National Association of Broadcasters 2011 NABShow agreed.
A variety of stakeholders are trying to piece together the ecosystem around mobile broadcast TV, panelists told the audience at the National Association of Broadcasters’ annual trade show and conference. Eric Moreno, senior VP of corporate development at Fox Networks Group, who heads a mobile content venture between Fox, NBC Universal and others, said his company’s efforts focus on creating a service that delights customers and meets goals of President Obama’s National Broadband Plan.
Likewise, Randa Minkarah, senior VP of revenue and business development at Fisher Communications Inc., said the Mobile500 Alliance, which Fisher belongs to, is working toward the same goals as the Fox-NBC initiative. The Mobile500 Alliance is adopting Mobile DTV standards through work with the Open Mobile Video Coalition.
To date, there is no universal standard for mobile TV, said Siano Mobile Silicon’s Ronan Jaschek. Siano makes silicon that enables mobile TV. However, lessons can be learned from certain markets, like Japan, where mobile TV has been successfully deployed and is bringing in revenue.
Most likely, wireless operators will be among the last companies to embed broadcast TV chips into mobile devices, because the ecosystem needs to take off first, and then operators will embrace the effort, panelists agreed. Other devices, like tablets and dongles, probably will develop first. Those kinds of devices don’t need the carrier’s blessing. Once carriers see the demand for mobile TV, they will embrace the initiative, especially when higher video adoption rates put pressure on their cellular networks, Minkarah said.
Business models will need to be tweaked and the broadcast business model of one or two packages that scale to a mass market audience won’t work in the future, commented Saul Berman, global strategy & change services leader at IBM Corp.’s Global Business Services. “A la cart is going to happen.”
Today, Moreno said his group is trying to be as flexible as possible, aware they are rebuilding the traditional broadcast model. All members of the value chain need to be paid for mobile TV to be successful. “We’re at the very early stages.” Wireless operators aren’t going to be the first companies to play in this effort, but when the “overwhelming tsunami” of video hits their networks, they will become part of the value chain. In the meantime, mobile TV broadcasters can go directly to consumers through tablets and other form factors, like automobiles, he noted.