NAB 2011, MobileTV gets a buzz word podium finish

so, prolly the most "in your face" idea this year was 3D-video (i can imagine the voice over now... "this is News 3-D in H-D at Noon").

rrriiiiiiigt.

the second biggest buzz & the one that has a greater chance of having an effect on us is Mobile-TV. the idea is that over the air broadcast stations take some of their bandwidth and broadcast a signal that can be more readily decoded by "mobile devices" with the right "app." basically, the ability to watch our severe weather coverage live on your iPad or the Masters from the first tee box on your samsung galaxy.

it's basically a response by broadcasters to make more compelling arguments to keep more of our FCC allocated airspace, rather than having it taken away & given to wireless internet/cell phone providers.

Mobile-TV broadcasts are currently happening in a few markets around the country.

this well intended idea is in such a weird place right now... because there are so many forces at work:

• first off, people can't even agree on what to call it... Mobile-TV (for some "TV" has a negative context meaning old, traditional, one-way over-the-air communication) or call it Mobile-Video (oh, so pictures but no audio then?)
• mobile device manufacturers need to build phones & tablets with the right hardware to receive the signal
• programmers need to write applications that can display the content
• speaking of content, what is the programming? just a re-transmission of what we already do (IE: CBS or TVW) or a custom programmed channel? ya think CBS might want a little more coin for that re-transmission?
• oh, and don't forget we would need to buy a bunch of ATSC-M/H transmission hardware to broadcast that new signal
• is this free for viewers, or do they subscribe to this?

in the Morgan Murphy Media group meeting, Brian Burns (who just happens to be a member of the OMVC and the Mobile500 Alliance) said that re-transmitting what we're doing now is the way to begin, then see where it leads from there.

the trick that would make Jane Consumer want this (and therefore lead to an actual business model) is to have it mimic the two-way communication that the internet provides. instead of programing that just magically falls from the sky, have some way to let the consumer select what they can watch on their device, too. the answer to that is a DVR function on the device, which you could record a show onto your iPad. there also may be ways to request a show or segment via the cellular provider, then deliver it to the device's DVR (still a little foggy on how it gets to the DVR... over the cellular/wifi provider or over the air from our transmitter).

of course, all of this centers around the viability of an actual business model... the ability to make money from it. really, that's easy part: just come up with an idiot-proof hand-held device & application that anyone can use then broadcast can't-look-away local programming on it. no problem, right?