Mobile TV Gets Closer As Backers Cut a Path

Watching live television broadcasts on mobile devices is common in some countries, but not the U.S. A new effort is taking shape to change that. A group of broadcasters plans to use this week's Consumer Electronics Show to promote their plans to deliver news, sports, weather and other local content to users on the go. While cellphones are an obvious target, backers of the effort also expect users to receive local programming on laptop computers, portable DVD players and devices in cars. Results may not come quickly, or easily. Competition for users' attention is stiff, including an array of on-demand video offerings for mobile devices as well as another mobile broadcasting network that is trying to build a U.S. audience. Local broadcasters—many of whom are grappling with a steep decline in advertising revenue—must bear the initial costs of developing the new business while waiting for advertisers to support it, says Gordon Borrell, chief executive of the market-research firm Borrell Associates. Meanwhile, the Federal Communications Commission has discussed shifting some frequencies being used for mobile TV to broadband services. Such hurdles aren't deterring the Open Mobile Video Coalition, a group of 800 local broadcasters and industry executives formed in 2007 to push the concept. They call their technology Mobile DTV, distinguishing it from past portable television sets that received analog signals.