Mobile DTV at The 2009 NAB Show

One of the highlights of The 2009 NAB Show (April 18-23, 2009, www.nabshow.com) is sure to be the incredible amount of activity surrounding developments in mobile DTV. This show represents the first opportunity for industry professionals to see the developing mobile DTV "ecosystem," including solutions providers along the broadcast Mobile DTV value chain, from content and interactivity, to encoding and metadata, to multiplexing and transmission.

Spearheading this activity is the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC), an alliance of more than 800 broadcasters whose mission is to accelerate the development of mobile DTV in the United States. OMVC, along with its members and partners, as well as the demonstrations coordinated by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) and others, will have an impressive presence on the show floor, featuring a variety of live over-the-air mobile DTV capabilities, functional products and future services. OMVC will also illuminate the lucrative opportunity that the technology presents - unique to broadcasters - that will not only expand their services to the public, but also increase broadcaster revenues.

Saturday and Sunday at the show were filled with mobile DTV-related tutorials and presentations, including an SBE Ennes Workshop - Continuing the Digital Transition, an IEEE-BTS Technology Tutorial: The ATSC Mobile DTV Candidate Standard, and a two-part session on Mobile Television Technology, all part of the Broadcast Engineering Conference. Recordings of these and other sessions, with audio and slides can be ordered on line. Listed below are some of the "must-see" exhibits and sessions on mobile DTV available Monday through Thursday at the 2009 NAB Show. Exhibit hall hours are Monday through Wednesday, April 20-22, from 9AM - 6PM and Thursday, April 23 from 9AM - 2PM.

Breakfast session - Mobile DTV: The Power of Broadcast on the Go! Monday, April 20, 2009, 7:30- 8:30AM,
Ballroom A of the Las Vegas Hilton
The OMVC Super Session panel, open to all attendees, is sponsored by LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Harris Corporation and Rohde & Schwarz. In this Breakfast Session, which took place this morning, attendees got the latest information on broadcaster and device manufacturer commitment to mobile DTV, and affordable transmission facility improvements and flexible system architecture which support a variety of business models offering interactivity and advanced subscriber features. The panel was emceed by Fox Business Network anchor Liz Claman and included David Rehr, NAB; Brandon Burgess, ION Media Networks, Inc.; John Eck, NBC Universal; Dave Lougee, Gannett Broadcasting Co.; Colleen Brown, Fisher Communications; Bob Rast, LG Electronics; and John Godfrey, Samsung.

Super Session: Mobile Video Entertainment to Go
Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 4:30-5:30PM, room S222/223
An executive panel considers revenue opportunities and discusses who will likely invest in and control mobile networks-possibilities include broadcast companies, wireless operators, cable companies, satellite operators, and newcomers such as Qualcomm and ICO. Panelists include Oliver Coste, Alcatel-Lucent Mobile Broadcast Venture, Tammy Franklin, Turner Broadcasting System, Brian Lawlor, The E. W. Scripps Company, Nandhu Nandhakumar, LG Electronics, and Scott Wills, Trifocal LLC.

Mobile Entertainment Summit
Wednesday, April 11, 2009, 10AM - 3:50PM, room S219/220
Learn about the most important developments in mobile entertainment: mobile video and TV, Apple iPhone, advertising, marketing, music, text messaging, mobile search engines, mobile communities and social networks. Discover how broadcasters, carriers, Hollywood executives and mobile entrepreneurs can use mobile platforms to generate new sources of revenues.

This is a "must attend" for those who want to understand the mobile future and get in on the ground floor. Today's youth is texting, using their mobile phones to catch up on Facebook and Myspace, watching videos and television and buying music - and they're doing it while or instead of watching conventional fixed TV. The Mobile Entertainment Summit will explain how you can capitalize on these mobile trends to expand your reach, improve your bottom line and find new forms of revenue.

NAB Broadcasting Engineering Achievement Awards
Technology Luncheon sponsored by LG Electronics
Wednesday, April 22, 2009, noon - 1:45PM, room: Hilton Barron Room
The television achievement award honoree is Sterling Davis, Cox Broadcasting (Chairman of the OMVC Technical Advisory Group), and the radio award honoree is Jack Sellmeyer, Sellmeyer Engineering. Cultural anthropologist Mimi Ito's keynote speech at the Technology Luncheon will focus on the increasingly mobile media lifestyle of younger audiences and the importance of this trend for media producers and broadcasters.

OMVC Booth
Mobile DTV: Never Miss a Minute
Booth C8150
Visit the OMVC booth to learn about membership and efforts to accelerate mobile DTV deployment, plus witness the latest in this new media technology, from local and national programming to interactivity (VOD, DVR, etc.) to next-generation devices. Audience measurement opportunities will be demonstrated by Nielsen and Rentrak. Devices on display at the booth include:

Triveni Digital, SU3402 & C8546Q

The April 20, 2009 TV TechCheck is also available in an Adobe Acrobat file.
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