WRAL to Test Mobile DTV

Capitol Broadcasting’s Raleigh-Durham, N.C., station teams up with CBC New Media Group, with help from MPH developers LG Electronics, Zenith Electronics, Harris.

By B&C Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 7/22/2008 5:46:00 PM

Capitol Broadcasting’s WRAL Raleigh-Durham, N.C., teamed up with CBC New Media Group on the state’s first field test of mobile digital television this week.

The two parties will use the MPH system, which allows broadcasters to deliver DTV to mobile devices including cellular phones, laptops and personal media players.

MPH developers LG Electronics, Zenith Electronics and Harris will assist in the field trials. (To watch a video demonstration of the system, click here.)

The station said two channels of specially encoded video will be broadcast over WRAL-DT for reception by prototype mobile handheld receivers, and the test will demonstrate how consumers will be able to receive mobile-DTV reception anywhere.

WRAL added that more than 200 million portable devices are expected to be sold in 2008.

“This is great for WRAL and for the industry as digital provides a complete viewer experience from crystal-clear high-definition television for the home to superb mobile quality for the car and handheld devices,” Capitol CEO James F. Goodmon said in a statement. “Mobile DTV broadcasting enables WRAL to better serve our viewers, communities and advertisers by providing a strong combination of anywhere access, two-way communication and mobility.”