The Fall of Qualcomm FLO TV means nothing to Mobile DTV testing in Washington, DC. Not yet

It doesn’t look like the recent fall of Qualcomm FLO TV means anything to the Mobile DTV testing  that has been underway in Washington, DC since May of this year.

Open Mobile Video Coalition, a voluntary association of television broadcasters, has been conducting a consumer showcase of the mobile digital TV technology, since May and is expected to wrap up by the end of this month. The survey is termed as the “OMVC Washington Consumer Showcase,” and was conducted as a market research on the growing usage of mobile phones or smart phones especially for watching television on mobile.

In addition to Washington, D.C., Mobile DTV signals are now being transmitted to New York; Detroit; Philadelphia; Charlotte, N.C.; Raleigh, N.C.; Atlanta; Orlando; Chicago; Austin, Texas; Columbus Omaha, Los Angeles; San Jose, Calif., and other cities.

The Consumer Showcase was conducted with three different viewer focus groups with different criteria such as interactive advertising, closed captioning, electronic service guides for program information, automatic audience measurement and emergency alerts, and included 23 local and national news, and entertainment channels.

The groups were asked to provide their feedback via market research, daily diaries and focus groups. The first focus group, consisting of 150 consumers, was selected in Washington to watch Mobile DTV on specifically modified Samsung Moment mobile phones. Toward the end of June, the first group was joined by an additional 200 viewers with a prototype of Dell Inspiron Mini 10 notebooks, which were equipped with Mobile DTV reception capability. Meanwhile, the third focus group worked with the LG Electronic Mobile DTV/DVD Player, ideal for countertops, tables, or even backseat viewing.

The survey provided three major points for consideration, which show that local news channels are the most popular mobile program. Viewers cited that the convenience of the mobile phone was the main reason for that —  so people could simply tune in to the Mobile DTV while on the move, even in traffic or during lunch breaks. And it also proved to be highly useful to have a mobile DTV during emergencies or during storms, because it does not require physical towers to transmit or broadcast.

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