(9 January 2009 7:00 pm)

BANGALORE: MediaFLO USA, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, announced plans to make the FLO TV™ experience available to more than 200 million consumers across more than 100 markets in 2009.

The market launch schedule will commence within weeks of the 17 February 2009 digital television (DTV) transition date and continue throughout the year, according to an official release.

Broadening its FLO TV footprint, MediaFLO USA plans to work with its wireless operator partners to introduce the service in major markets including Boston, Cleveland, Houston, Miami and San Francisco. The government's forthcoming DTV transition will free spectrum across the USA for the delivery of advanced wireless services, creating new opportunities for mobile subscribers to experience FLO TV.

MediaFLO USA's extensive market research and viewer usage data confirms that consumers are progressively adopting mobile TV services and, once adopted, using their services with increasing regularity. Metrics show that FLO TV viewers are spending an average of more than 20 minutes per day watching television on their phones. This is comparable to the average time US cell phone users spend per day talking on their cell phones, according to CTIA's Semi-Annual Wireless Industry Survey.

The release informs further that FLO TV's most dramatic viewership increases in 2008 occurred during live events, illustrating the service's immediacy and its resonance with today's mobile consumers:

- Viewership increased 103 percent over the daily average during this year's epic U.S. Open golf championship playoff featuring Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate.

- Live coverage of Hurricane Ike helped spike viewership by 31 percent during the storm.

- On Election Day, FLO TV subscribers spent an average of 22 percent more time watching TV on their phones.

"These findings demonstrate the power of being connected in real-time to the news, sports and entertainment events consumers care about," says MediaFLO USA president Gina Lombardi, "In collaboration with our carrier partners, MediaFLO USA will continue to lead the evolution of live mobile television and extend FLO TV to tens of millions of previously unreached consumers in dozens of new markets across the country."