Content on TV and Mobile Br Eng Apr 20 2012
http://blog.broadcastengineering.com/nab/?p=813
Broadcasters poised to bring first screen to second
Phil Kurz April 20th, 2012
Dyle interface with onscreen signal strength_130
Although many broadcasters and vendors at the 2012 NAB Show focused on how best to modify
existing workflows to create and deliver content to viewers who go online while watching TV, a
new twist on the fledgling Mobile-DTV front looks as if broadcasters may soon be bringing the first
screen to the second.
At the Mobile DTV Pavilion on the convention floor, two developments point to how that will get
done. First, Mobile-DTV tuner dongles for the Apple iPad reprised their appearance from the 2012
International CES convention and plucked Mobile-DTV signals off air to be displayed on the media
tablet. The Belkin and Elgato dongles, which plug into the iPad’s 30-pin dock connector and come
with antennas, are expected to reach market in the summer.
Second, Mobile500 Alliance unveiled its consumer-facing interface for Mobile DTV. The interface
lets viewers combine first-screen TV viewing with second-screen social interaction. Viewers can
read and respond to Twitter comments superimposed over Mobile-TV programming directly on the
tablet screen.
Social media integration is just one of several parts of what the Mobile500 Alliance is calling an
end-to-end solution for Mobile DTV. Other important pieces of the solution include interactive
advertising, audience measurement, conditional access for premium content, closed caption, video
recording and VOD.
Colleen Brown, CEO and president of Fisher Communications and chair of the Mobile500 Alliance,
said the solution will give broadcasters audience and advertising data that will help them evaluate
their investment in Mobile DTV. Like the iPad dongles, the solution from the Mobile500 Alliance
will be launched this summer, she said.
On the other side of the Mobile DTV Pavilion, the Mobile Content Venture was showing its Dyle
Mobile DTV service on a variety of consumer devices, including the iPad and a new LG Android
smartphone with built-in Mobile-DTV tuner.
Erik Moreno, Senior VP, Corporate Development, Fox Networks Group, and co-general manager of
MCV, said the new LG Android phone is one of the many important parts of the Mobile-DTV
ecosystem that MCV has worked to build. MCV, which is made up of 15 major broadcast groups
and networks, is planning to launch Mobile DTV se