MobiTV

It's no secret that mobile video is one of the most popular uses for mobile broadband networks. Yet there is one huge drawback to customers' insatiable desire to view video on their mobile devices: Most of the content is provided by over-the-top players and delivered via unicast channels, which sucks up precious bandwidth on mobile networks and does not allow operators to monetize the service beyond charging for the amount of data consumed. Enter LTE Broadcast, billed as the answer to at least some of mobile operators' video delivery challenges.

Sprint Nextel is rolling out Entertain ME, which bundles music and video services including the operator's own video and music services alongside a series of third-party music applications including Spotify, Slacker, iHeartRadio, Shazam and Rumpus.

U.S. consumers haven't exactly leaped en masse at the chance to watch live broadcast TV on their handsets, so I have to wonder how aggressively operators will jump onto the next generation of mobile TV technologies.

Consumers are tuning in to the possibilities of mobile TV. Half of U.S. consumers would consider viewing programs on their smartphones and tablets according to a new survey conducted by Mobile Content Venture, the broadcaster alliance behind the forthcoming Dyle mobile TV effort.