Mobile DTV front and center at ATSC
Last week’s ATSC Annual Meeting featured discussions of mind-blowing future broadcast innovations such as UltraHD and broadcast 3D TV, but much of the attention of the meeting was focused on the emerging innovation of mobile DTV. This means live, local TV on the go straight from your local stations with no data streaming charges!
Following the event, we caught up with a variety of featured conference speakers, including:
- Mark Richer, President, ATSC
- Kelly Williams, Senior Director, Technology, NAB
- Erik Moreno, Dyle Mobile TV
- Jay Adrick, Vice President, Harris Broadcasting
We asked each of them about the impressive adoption of mobile DTV by broadcasters and the various consumer devices that are coming to market later this year that allow viewers to get over-the-air broadcast TV signals on their mobile devices without any hefty mobile data charges. I think you’ll be amazed at what mobile DTV has in store for viewers now and in the very near future:
More broadcast innovations on the horizon
The Future of TV certainly looked bright at this week’s Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) Annual Meeting. The meeting attracted the television industry’s premier broadcasters, engineers and other revolutionary leaders who are charged with developing the standards for broadcast innovations now and in the future. This year’s meeting included deep discussions on exciting broadcast innovations like improving mobile TV, incorporating standards for UltraHD and setting standards for broadcast 3D TV.
Early in the day, Leonardo Chiariglione, chairman and co-founder of the Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), delivered a keynote address on the innovations and standards that will help shape the future of HDTV. Other panels took a closer look at some of the broadcasters who are already achieving great things with mobile TV – like equipping city buses with transmitters to help get the technology into consumers’ hands.
Throughout the day it was clear that viewers’ interests were at the forefront of everyone’s minds. This wasespecially evident in the concluding panel, which touched on the importance of allowing smartphone and tablet users to access high quality video programming, including live, local TV, without having to incur hefty mobile data charges.
Check back soon for more posts on the ATSC meeting, including interviews and video highlights featuring the latest trends and innovations in broadcasting for viewers like you.
Stay safe out there!
In times of weather emergencies you need immediate access to information that will keep you and your family safe. And more than anywhere else, Americans turn to their local TV and radio stations to keep them informed.
Broadcasters understand better than anyone that seconds count when a storm is approaching. As first informers, local TV stations around the country are innovating to keep viewers safe and meet your needs of on-demand information.
One station, KWCH in Kansas, is an excellent example of the hard work of stations to deliver critical information in emergency situations. Incorporating Facebook, Twitter, mobile apps for news and weather, and of course over-the-air AND live-streaming free and local TV, KWCH brings information to viewers in numerous ways to keep people safe and save lives.
Watch what it takes to quickly pull all the information together in real time and keep viewers up-to-date on changing weather conditions.
Tell us—how do you stay informed during times of an emergency? Have local radio and TV been a lifeline for you?
Exciting innovations in Mobile DTV showcased at CES on the Hill
Live TV on-the-go. Personalized television. Mobile DTV tuner devices. It’s pretty clear that “TV life as we know it… is about to change dramatically.”
Some of the exciting broadcast innovations debuted last week at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. Nev., have come to Washington, D.C., and now lawmakers get a chance to see if they are ready to be rolled out to consumers.
The Consumer Electronic Show on the Hill will showcase some of the highlights from last week’s show, including demonstrations of the latest in Mobile DTV from the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC).
As much as we love being a part of cutting-edge electronic development, we know our viewers are going to love local television on-the-go and saving money without incurring costly mobile data bills even more! Mobile DTV is delivered from local stations to smartphones via over-the-air technology, not wireless, which means no data streaming charges.
Read more about the technologies that will be coming soon. Whatever your lifestyle, these innovations are bringing your favorite content to you wherever you are. That’s something we can all be excited about.
Summer 2012 – a blockbuster for consumers
Free, local television on the go. Tablets and other mobile devices with built-in TV tuners and antennas. New ways to avoid huge monthly data bills from wireless companies. The Future of TV blog has been keeping you apprised about new developments in mobile DTV technologies and now it’s time for consumers to start taking advantage of free, local TV in the palm of their hand!
At the NAB Show this week, broadcasters, vendors and technology organizations have been out in force… demonstrating the technology and new devices.
Some of the great new innovations include:
- Consumer electronics manufacturers are bringing new mobile DTV-capable devices to market and developing external devices that will allow existing iPads and smart phones to receive live broadcast signals.
- The Mobile500 Alliance is demonstrating its solution that offers live TV, DVR-type functionality for recording live TV, on demand programming, social media integration, closed captioning and interactive advertising.
- New tuner devices, which are small adapters/dongles for iPads and iPhones will be available through online retailers this summer.
Read more about what broadcasters are doing to deliver the entertainment you love and the information you rely on to your mobile devices!
And now for the weather
Your great-uncle may always know it’s going to rain because of the twinge he gets in his knee, but broadcasters need to take a little more scientific approach to the daily weather report.
New technologies are being debuted at this year’s NAB Show, many of them inspired by viewers just like you! These weather technology innovations include:
- More realistic 3D and virtual graphics.
- Closer integration of graphics engines with speedy data analysis.
- Improved speed and resolution of mapping and radar data.
- Hyperlocal and social media features added to storm tracking systems.
- A new product that combines traffic and weather visuals.
Read more about how local viewers helped broadcasters innovate their local weather reports.
What do you think? Which one of these new technologies interest or intrigue you the most? Is there anything you would add?
Your local TV and radio broadcasters take their role as first informers very seriously – whether that’s alerting you to take an umbrella when you head out of the house, or alerting you to take cover because a tornado is fast approaching.
Stations are constantly innovating to deliver the critical information you need… anytime and everywhere you are. Stay tuned as the future of TV unfolds!
Concerned about mobile data charges? Broadcasters can help.
Guzzler. Hog. Pig. No, we’re not talking about gas pumps, but rather the potential for huge data bills with some of the new tablet devices on the market that are swallowing up data from cellular networks at a monstrous rate, especially those that connect using the 4G network.
We’ve mentioned new devices that will deliver TV to the palm of your hand with already built-in TV tuners and antennas (and therefore not using up your monthly data allotment in one day!), but did you know that there are other ways to get your local news and entertainment on the go?
More than 100 stations are broadcasting directly to mobile devices, with more coming online all the time. Anywhere you go, you’ll be able to watch your favorite programs, the local football game or check out the weather forecast. It’s hyperlocal content the way you want to receive it. And if your device has a USB port (like your laptop, netbook, etc.) you can also purchase an external dongle. A dongle (not much bigger than a flashdrive) merely connects to your computer allowing you to receive mobile optimized broadcast video for free.
So for those who are budget conscious (and who isn’t these days?) and concerned about using too much data, broadcasters are working daily on new and innovative technologies to continue bringing you the information and entertainment you seek and rely on every day for free.
TV for your tablet? It’s on the way!
Local television stations are bringing your favorite programs and local news alerts to you the way you already live—on the go!The newest addition to the mobile technology market is this new tablet coming soon to retailers. What does this device have that others do not? For starters, it has a built in TV tuner and antenna.
This is something never seen in the mobile tablet space until now—a TV ready device. It’s been a high priority for broadcasters to develop new and innovative ways to deliver the content you rely on for emergency information and seek for entertainment, in ways relevant to you and your family. And more than 100 stations are already broadcasting directly to mobile devices, with more coming soon!
And while there’s been much discussion about Apple’s iPad 4G and the potential data costs to stream video , we think this new tablet is even more exciting as it delivers HD video content into the palm of your hand from local stations. Live, local, over-the-air TV is delivered for free—no expensive wireless data required!
What do you think? Has the Future of TV arrived?
Local TV and Radio – Always on. Always there.
Spring may bring April showers and May flowers, but it can also bring some devastating weather. When tornadoes recently tore through communities in the Southeast and Midwest, local TV and radio stations were there to help keep their viewers and listeners safe every step of the way.
Viewers of KY3-TV reported they first received a text alert [warning a tornado was coming] from the TV station in the middle of the night, and turned to the station’s website for live radar. One viewer said after turning on the TV, ‘you were the only ones on the air. You saved my life.’”
After the storms, broadcasters swung into action to support their communities. Country music star Rodney Atkins partnered with local radio station WRIL in Pineville, Ky., to broadcast a concert –on local radio to raise funds for towns in Kentucky and Tennessee that had been devastated by the storms. WTHR-TV in Indianapolis and their viewers helped raise more than $500,000 for relief funds after tornadoes ripped through Indiana. And the list goes on and on. Even broadcasters not directly impacted by the tornadoes have pitched in to help.
WGAL-TV in Pennsylvania covers the area of Lancaster, Harrisburg, York and Lebanon. When they noticed that a number of towns in the Midwest that had been hit hard had the same name as towns in their area, they “decided to launch [a] fundraising drive to support the American Red Cross in its work to bring relief to those who lost so much in these ‘sister towns.’”
Local TV and radio broadcasters are a lifeline for their communities before, during and after times of crisis . For critical information to stay safe during an emergency, turn to those who are always on and always there for you.
Entravision Launches Perspectiva Nacional
We’ve mentioned before the various ways broadcasters are working to keep viewers informed and prepared for the upcoming elections – and now there’s another exciting new political show on your TV.
News correspondent Armando Guzman has been tapped to host a new weekly political public affairs show from Entravision Communications, “Perspectiva Nacional con Armando Guzman.”
Click here to view a clip from a recent episode.
“Each week, the program will highlight the most pressing political news, issues and events impacting the U.S. Hispanic community. The show will include experts from the political arena who will discuss and provide insights into the critical issues that are important to the Latino community, with a heightened focus on the upcoming elections.”
The show launched on March 11, 2012 and airs Sundays at 8:30 a.m. Eastern on Univision affiliate stations in Connecticut, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Kansas, Florida, California, Massachusetts, Texas and Washington, D.C.
