ION triple-play package features mobile DTV

Television station group ION Media Networks announced the launch of a new digital broadcast triple-play package including its high-definition flagship network, ION Television, as well as two additional digital networks and mobile DTV service. Introduced in the New York City and Washington D.C. markets, the triple-play package--enabled by the recent digital TV transition--is part of a broader initiative in support of the Open Mobile Video Coalition, a trade group made up of more than 800 commercial and public television stations collaborating to create a showcase for mobile DTV. According to ION, the mobile DTV format enables broadcasters to use subchannels to transmit broadcast content to wireless devices.

The ION mobile DTV service operates via ATSC-M/H technology, developed by the Advanced Television Systems Committee to enable delivery of television to mobile and handheld devices. In New York, the mobile stream, transmitted from ION owned and operated WPXN, is broadcast alongside the station's HD signal and ION's two multicast channels--additional formatting allows it to be picked up by mobile receivers like phones and in-vehicle screens.

For more on ION's triple-play launch:
- read this release

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