Another Mobile TV Standard ... ?

Julie Ask | May 15, 2008, 02:46 PM

MocoNews had a small write-up on this LG / Samsung initiative. VuNet had this piece.

This was at the tail end of the story:

A study commissioned by the National Association of Broadcasters suggested that the adoption of a single mobile digital TV standard would drive the sale of 130 million mobile digital TV phones by the end of 2012.

This piece was interesting to me for a couple of reasons. First, I do believe that local news whether in video format or otherwise will be interesting to consumers on cell phones. I don't believe that a single standard for broadcast TV is what is standing between the millions (single digit) that are using mobile TV today on cell phones and 130M others using it. I was surprised there wasn't more about planned handset capabilities such as storage, playback, etc. that would facilitate the time-shifting and place-shifting to which consumers have grown accustomed. Business model? Ads? Content selection? Technology doesn't tend to be the inhibitor or high on the list for consumers. A single standard may help to bring costs down, but that alone won't get us to 130M either.