Monday May 4, 2009 - Myra Moore
The naysayers are pronouncing local TV broadcasts to U.S. mobile phones dead on arrival because they say mobile phone service providers will never agree to let ATSC Mobile DTV receivers be built into service-provider handsets.
The argument goes like this: In order for local broadcasters’ OTA services to be successful, consumers must be able to view the programming on their mobile phones. In other words, with the exception of portable TVs for automobiles, consumers won’t purchase (in meaningful numbers) separate devices to view local TV programming. So far, we’re in agreement.
A frequent sentiment expressed among industry players at the recent National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show (April 20-23), is that mobile phone service providers will be perpetually unwilling to open the door to local TV broadcasters because free OTA broadcasts won’t deliver a direct revenue stream to service providers. Not surprisingly, no announcements have been made from providers like Verizon and AT&T to imbed OTA digital TV receivers in company-subsidized handsets when broadcasters begin the first transmissions later this year.
ATSC Mobile DTV is new and commercially untested; it will increase handset costs; and if service providers are considering the eventual inclusion of ATSC receivers, they’re certainly not going to tip their hands now. But we think there are a couple of reasons why service providers won’t be hostile to the idea.
· Free-to-air mobile TV reception can give consumers a “free” taste of receiving TV programming, which may lead to additional video snacking of premium content provided by the service provider.
· As more and more features are added to our Swiss Army Knife phones, the inclusion of broadcast TV receivers may be like cameras in mobile phones – ubiquitous and necessary to be competitive. In Japan, the vast majority of mobile phones (whether acquired through the provider or independently) includes a broadcast mobile TV receiver. The country has an installed base of more than 20 million TV-capable handsets. Most mobile phone providers selling full-featured handsets and services willingly choose to include 1seg TV receivers because many consumers want to receive local TV programming on their handsets.
Of course, it’s too early to know if the U.S. market will be similar to the Japanese (or Korean) market, but it seems premature to dismiss the idea that ATSC mobile TV receivers might someday make their way into phones.
