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Mobile TV Newsletter - Mobile TV Content at MipTV
April 2007
April saw the mobile TV content market flourish at MipTV in Cannes - and DVB-H technology partnerships make headlines. Read on!
MipTV: Mobile TV plays an essential role within a 360-degree approach
In April, the content and television programming industry gathered in Cannes, France for the annual MipTV event. Television executives see the current foundation of the TV business as a 360-degree approach, which refers to supplying content to all channels, including broadcast television, broadband internet and mobile TV.
Gerhard Zeiler, CEO of RTL Group, describing the role of new delivery channels
Harri Männistö, Nokia Director of Multimedia
Gerhard Zeiler, CEO of RTL Group Gerhard Zeiler, CEO of RTL Group, described the role of new delivery channels for broadcasters in his keynote speech. Zeiler said of broadband and mobile TV channels, "they are all about distribution-new ways of reaching the consumer. We are content and programming providers, we have to use new technology and we want to be on every single platform."
Harri Männistö, Nokia Director of Multimedia In his presentation, Harri Männistö, Nokia's Director of Multimedia, emphasized the importance of open standards in making mobile TV a widely deployed application. The cost of mobile broadcast technology is also coming down - according to Männistö, we now stand at only seven euros of added cost per handset for a DVB-H chip.
There was a wide offering of made-for-mobile TV content available at the exhibition. The big production companies are also now producing programming for mobile TV. For example, Endemol, the company famous for Big Brother and other international TV formats, presented a celebrity video diary format for mobile TV, called "Get Close To...".
bmcoforum's BCAST implementation profile gains support
A group of leading mobile telecommunications companies announced their support for bmcoforum's implementation profile for the OMA BCAST mobile TV specification. BCAST is a technical specification used for implementing DVB-H mobile broadcast services.
The rationale behind using an implementation profile is to make service development for DVB-H easier and faster. This way, the profile is expected to speed up DVB-H based mobile TV developments on the European market.
The profile provides support for advanced service and program guides (ESGs) as well as content and service protection functionalities, for example.
The companies that announced their support for the profile are Digitenne, Ericsson, KPN, Nokia, Nokia Siemens Networks, NXP Semiconductors, Sony Ericsson, Telefónica, O2 Europe, T-Mobile, Vodafone, and ZTE.
Samsung joins Nokia to push mobile TV interoperability
Samsung Electronics and Nokia announced a co-operation agreement that aims to develop the interoperability of DVB-H handsets and networks. Samsung and Nokia will work together to support OMA BCAST-based solutions.
Interoperability of handsets and networks is needed to simplify service development and thus shorten the time to market of new mobile TV services.
The inclusion of [OMA BCAST] in our product portfolios will enhance our customers' flexibility in choosing suitable standards based on their business models", said Kwang Suk Hyun, Senior Vice President of the Alliance Team of Samsung Electronics.
Nokia is already co-operating on interoperability development with Motorola and Sony Ericsson.
According to the MMA study, while only one percent of mobile subscribers currently access TV or video services with their mobile phone, 23 percent of users express some possibility of viewing video or TV content on a mobile device within the coming few months.
29 applicants for German DVB-H licenses
The German regulatory body DLM announced that they have received applications from 29 companies for a country-wide DVB-H transmission license.
Major German mobile operators O2, T-Mobile, and Vodafone have set up a consortium to apply for a DVB-H mobile TV license. The intention of the group is to launch a service comprising at least 16 channels in spring 2008. O2, T-Mobile, and Vodafone were also involved in a German DVB-H trial last year during the FIFA World Cup.
Among other applicants are broadcaster companies RTL, ProSiebenSat.1, Premier, and Vox, and DMB network operator MFD.
The goal is to make the license decisions in the fall of this year to allow the service to be launched in early 2008 - in good time to provide coverage of the UEFA football cup and the Olympic Games.
Timo Argillander
Editor
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