WRAL-TV, leading broadcasters towards MPH™ (Mobile-Pedestrian-Handheld)
WRAL-TV Raleigh, North Carolina (a Capital Broadcasting Company) likes to be first when it comes to new broadcast technology testing and deployment.
The first U.S station awarded an experimental HD license by the FCC, (June 1996)
Claimed to have produced the first live sports program in HD (on September 6, 1997)
First HD newscast (on October 28, 1998) stats via Wikipedia
July, 2008 WRAL has just concluded trials of MPH or Mobile-Pedestrian-Handheld mobile video technology, developed by Harris Corporation in concert with LG Electronics.
Jimmy Goodmon, CBC New Media Group Director of Technology gave us more granularity about their dierction for MPH.
IpTVe
How long do you anticipate the trials to last and do you have a soft launch date for going live?
Jimmy Goodmon
We completed the trials last week and were impressed with the results. In terms of a soft launch date the answer is nothing is set in stone right now. There are way too many variables in place for us to make an estimate on a launch date (be it soft or not). One of those variables playing a role in terms of when we go live with mobile TV is the availability of receivers. Since mobile TV enabled devices are projected to be in stores sometime in 2009 we will have to wait until that time to better gauge the market.
IpTVe
How many hours of programming and or channels are you planning to
broadcast per day?
Jimmy Goodmon
We are currently planning on one channel - a simulcast of WRAL-TV although there is certainly the option of adding more local channels - such as our 24 hour newschannel.
IpTVe
Do you plan to use different spot lengths from advertisers specific to this mobile platform since the norm is typically shorter then the standard :15-30 seconds spots on OTA?
Jimmy Goodmon
It is too early to say and there are again a lot of variables to consider. For instance, if we do run the same spots on the phone as we do on TV does it get credited to our ratings? Will Nielsen measure this service as it does TV? These questions and a number of others must be answered before I can give you a more concrete answer.
News Segment which aired on WRAL
It remains an open question as to the adoption rates for MPH among mobile users, this provided it becomes the standard for transmitting television programming. There are also potential licensing issues with studios and other media outlets if affiliates carry network content, not to mention what that WGA members will likely see this as lost revenue for its member writers. Smaller markets might balk at the cost, typically $150,000 - $200,000 to install the required hardware to encode and transmit the addition channels and how will ads work? If these and other hurtles can be overcome then MPH could extend the brand of local broadcasters and provide content to people on the go...
