ION Broadcasts Mobile DTV in N.Y., D.C.

Hails its digital TV “triple play”

By Glen Dickson -- Broadcasting & Cable, 6/29/2009 7:20:56 PM

ION Media Networks says it is now offering a multiplex of HDTV, standard-definition and mobile DTV program streams in both New York and Washington, D.C. through its local stations there.

ION, whose chairman and CEO Brandon Burgess has spearheaded much of broadcasters’ effort to create a mobile DTV standard, calls the multiplex its Digital Broadcast “Triple Play,” though the mobile DTV streams can only be received for now by technology vendors and other industry insiders with prototype mobile DTV receivers. The programs being transmitted in ION’s 19.4-megabit-per-second DTV pipe include flagship network, ION Television, in high-definition; two additional standard-def networks, Qubo and ION Life; plus mobile DTV content.  

The mobile DTV signals in Washington are being broadcast as part of a broader initiative in support of the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC), a trade group of over 800 broadcast television stations working to develop mobile DTV’s business prospects. Several stations are broadcasting mobile DTV signals there.
 
“Digital technology lets us reach more homes, enables HD quality and new digital networks, as well as mobile reception,” said Burgess in a statement. “Among all these benefits, mobile DTV may prove to be the most significant in the long run, allowing broadcasters to think beyond the living room and bring live television and real time information to consumers wherever they may be.”