The digital switch is the end of one TV era, but broadcasters and device companies hope it opens another.
They see a world in which we watch live television on cell phones and computers and in cars. On Thursday, when stations will be required to broadcast through digital rather than analog signals, some companies will use the broadcast spectrum freed by the switch to transmit live TV to cell phones and other portable devices. Shows and live video clips are available on some phones, but this heats up competition.
“This is one of about six or seven or eight things people are going to use their phone for,” said Rob Hyatt, executive director of premium content at AT&T Inc. About 13 million people watched video on their cell phones in the first three months of this year, according to Nielsen Co., up 50 percent increase from a year earlier.
Qualcomm Inc. hopes consumers will use Flo TV.
Broadcasters will be pushing the service from Open Mobile Video Coalition, a group that represents more than 28 station groups in the U.S. and will broadcast local TV free to mobile handsets, netbooks and MP3 players.
Early adopters are using MobiTV, a service that provides on-demand video and live TV over a carrier’s data network rather than over a TV spectrum.
“What we see is that people are on the go and have the need for immediate gratification,” said Bill Stone, president of Flo TV Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm.
Flo TV is available on only nine cell-phone models through Verizon and AT&T subscribers.
And because of the size of the spectrum Qualcomm purchased, Flo TV offers 12 channels. MobiTV offers more than 40.
