NBC, Fox Stations to Launch Mobile TV in 20 Cities

CHATHAM, New Jersey (November 19, 2010)—A group of NBC and Fox affiliates in at least 20 markets have set plans to begin broadcasting at least two channels of free, ad-supported TV programming to mobile devices by the end of 2011, according to a story published Friday by TVNewsCheck.com

Executives behind the move would not discuss what programming they will run on the two channels, but industry sources said it will likely be simulcasts of the stations’ conventional broadcasts.

The decision to launch mobile DTV broadcasting is aimed at accelerating the introduction of mobile DTV and is being led by the Mobile Content Venture, a joint venture of NBC, Fox and 10 major TV station groups.

“It’s all about programming, and it sounds as if NBC and Fox will permit their affiliates to broadcast their network programming on the mobile platform,” said Harry A. Jessell, TVNewsCheck.com’s co-founder and editor. “This is big news for broadcasting and for TV stations.”
Cities involved in the launch include 13 of the top 15 markets in the U.S. and will cover 40% of the population. They are New York; Los Angeles; Chicago; Philadelphia; San Francisco; Dallas; Washington; Atlanta; Houston; Detroit; Tampa; Phoenix; Minneapolis; Orlando; Portland, Ore.; Cincinnati; Greenville, S.C.; West Palm Beach, Fla.; Birmingham, Ala., and Knoxville, Tenn.
Eric Moreno, co-general manager of the Mobile Content Venture, said he expects news of the stations’ mobile DTV plans to “unleash a significant amount of pent-up energy and a desire to invest and participate broadly across the ecosystem, from broadcasters to the OEMs to content owners and eventually, frankly, to consumers, who hopefully will love this product.”

Salil Dalvi, the other co-general manager at CMV, said the 40 planned channels are just a start. “We expect the number to grow fairly sizably, fairly quickly,” he said.

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This release was published on openPR.