[opendtv] Re: Nokia sells mobile TV technology unit

At 10:47 AM -0400 4/22/09, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:

I don't find it surprising at all, truth to tell, that people won't sit
and watch 30 or 60 minute programs on a tiny cell phone screen. Cell
phones are for people on the go, not for long term sessions. I've always
been skeptical of the hype surrounding video to hand-held devices, which
hype started with DVB-H, the much-hyped deployments in Italy, etc., and
perhaps that skepticism was well founded.
Tell that to the more than 30 million people who watch movies and TV programs on their iPhones and iPod Touches.
I agree that long form entertainment is not the killer app for mobile/handhelds. But I watch videos all the time when they are relevant to what I am doing. Watching long form content is typically a planned activity on these devices, which are essentially mobile bit buckets. 

If someone wants to watch a broadcast TV show they are likely to either:

1. Plan to watch it on a big screen either live or via a DVR or download;
2. Download it to their hand held device when they know they will be in a situation where they have time to watch it - e.g. before getting on an airplane for a business trip.
The one exception to this is live events such as sports and American Idol. In these cases having access via broadcast to a hand held device makes sense. But is this enough to make M/H broadcasts economically viable? If the rights owners force broadcasters to charge for this service the answer will be NO. 



This is even more reason to get ATSC M/H incorporated into regular TVs
and STBs, and to make use of it as a hierarchical modulation scheme for
more standard TV applications than for cell phones. Reverse the letters.
The name should be changed to ATSC H/M. :)
A valid point. Now extend this just a bit. What if the STB was a DVR that could capture the slimmed down h.264 versions of programs, then easily transfer them to hand held devices? When you buy an HD movie or TV show from the iTunes store you get two files: the HD version and a mobile version for your iPhone or iPod. Broadcasters might learn from this... 

Regards
Craig


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