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TV revenue can ride on mobile to get a $2 bn boost by 2012 in US: NAB

Indiantelevision.com Team

(5 February 2008 2:00 pm)

MUMBAI: US broadcast television could reap an additional $2 billion in annual revenue by 2012 by delivering content to mobile and handheld devices if an industry standard is adopted and technology deployed quickly.

This has been reported by a study commissioned and released by the US National Association of Broadcasters (Nab) technology advocacy programme known as Fastroad (Flexible Advanced Services for Television and Radio On All Devices).

The report says that the success of new mobile and handheld (M/H) DTV services in the US will be maximised if an industry-accepted Advanced Television Standards Committee (ATSC) recommended standard for M/H DTV is released by early 2009 and universally adopted for M/H broadcasting. Delaying adoption of the standard will dramatically impact the revenue potential for both local and network broadcasters in a negative way, the report concludes.

The report called Study of the Impact of Multiple Systems for Mobile/Handheld Digital Television was authored by experts from BIA Financial Network with support from Law and Economics Consulting Group (LECG).

Assuming early adoption of an M/H standard, the report concludes that the estimated $2 billion in additional revenue by broadcasters would be shared between local stations (approximately $1.1 billion), and TV networks and syndicators (approximately $900 million). Revenue opportunities will come in the form of new advertising vehicles, monetising over-the-air programming on pay-mobile platforms, and partnerships with cell phone and other mobile delivery device providers.

Several new technologies have been proposed that would enable US broadcasters to transmit DTV signals that could be received by M/H devices such as cell phones, portable video players and TV screens in automobiles. The Open Mobile Video Coalition, an alliance of numerous US commercial and public broadcasters, announced its commitment to the development of mobile DTV in April 2007, and the ATSC has an accelerated programme underway to standardise the system for M/H broadcasting.