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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Local TV may be going mobile

Paul Davidson USA Today

The local TV channels on your living-room set may soon make their way to – where else? – your mobile phone. And it may not cost you a dime.

Local broadcasters are quietly planning to beam the stations to cell phones, video iPods, in-car DVD players and other gadgets that would be equipped with TV tuners. The high-quality digital broadcasts likely would start after the transition to digital TV ends in 2009.

Today, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint offer video services on cell phones but they typically cost $10 to $25 a month. They include news and sports clips, previously aired network programs and 1 to 3 minute “mobisodes.” Verizon in March launched a Qualcomm service that simulcasts prime-time network shows.

The new effort could pump fresh life into local broadcast stations that have steadily lost viewers to cable TV, the Web, game players and mobile phones.

“We do know that people want real live television” on mobile devices, “not sound bites of television,” says David Smith, president of Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns 58 TV stations.

Prices have not been set, says Brandon Burgess, CEO of TV broadcast company Ion Media Networks and head of the Open Mobile Video Coalition, a group of about 750 broadcasters leading the mobile TV effort.

But Patrick Mullen, head of Fox’s Chicago stations, says many broadcasters would transmit their main channel for free. They’ll reap revenue by charging advertisers a premium to reach larger audiences and by selling them mobile ads that let consumers press a button to buy products, says Envisioneering Group analyst Richard Doherty. Stations also would charge fees for additional channels that might show local news or weather, or cable staples such as ESPN.

Stations can keep prices low because they’ve already spent millions installing digital broadcasting equipment. All they lack is gear, now being developed, to beam a signal that’s customized for small screens and can work when people travel at high speeds in cars or trains.

Consumers would need a video-equipped device that has a chip with a TV tuner. LG and Samsung are among manufacturers developing such a chip, which would add up to $10 to the price of a mobile device. An add-on tuner costing less than $50 could be an option.

A technology is to be chosen as the industry standard early next year.

There are hurdles. Gearmakers must be persuaded to build in the chip. And Roger Entner, senior vice president of IAG Research, says wireless carriers will be reluctant to sell TV-capable phones that compete with their video services.

Yankee Group analyst Linda Barrabee says only about six percent of wireless customers subscribe to video offerings, noting many are loath to pay extra fees. Adults surveyed would prefer to watch traditional TV on mobile phones, she says. Doherty says carriers will be lured by the chance to share in new revenue.