Broadcast giants pool spectrum for mobile DTV effort

A dozen broadcast groups including NBC, Fox and Cox Media Group announced the formation of a new joint venture to develop a nationwide mobile content service delivered via spectrum the U.S. government hopes to reclaim to expand broadband access. The alliance, which also joins Belo Corp., E.W. Scripps Co., Gannett Broadcasting, Hearst Television., ION Television, Media General, Meredith Corp., Post-Newsweek Stations Inc. and Raycom Media, will aggregate spectrum to offer live and on-demand video, news, sports and entertainment as well as print content to nearly 150 million U.S. residents, targeting mobile handsets as well as netbooks, DVD players and in-vehicle entertainment systems.  The service is based on the Advanced Television Systems Committee's ATSC-M/H open broadcast standard; in addition to spectrum, the broadcast partners will also commit marketing and capital resources to the JV.

The broadcasters said they will form a dedicated management team to focus on securing additional content, spectrum and distribution partners. Details will be made available at a later date.

The Federal Communication Commission's National Broadband Initiative recommends the agency repossess 40 percent of spectrum in an effort to reduce wireless network congestion. The broadcasters contend the mobile DTV effort will complement the FCC's proposal by giving consumers mobile access to bandwidth-intensive video content, adding the network can also deliver time-sensitive emergency information to both local and national audiences. "It's in the broadcasters' best interest to capitalize and build on the spectrum that they've been given to demonstrate to the FCC all the ways they can utilize it," Noble Financial Group analyst Michael Kupinski tells Bloomberg.

For more on the mobile DTV venture:
- read this release

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