Free TV—on your cell phone?

Here's an interesting story from the Associated Press this morning regarding television on cell phones.

U.S. TV broadcasters are working on a new standard (called ATSC-M/H) that will allow cell phones (and other mobile devices) to receive and display over-the-air digital TV signals, which nearly all stations will be using by February 2009 as part of the transition to DTV.

TV on your cell phone isn't entirely new. U.S. cell phone service providers have been offering—for extra monthly fees—TV "channels" (such as ESPN and CNN) on certain model phones, like the Samsung SCH-u620 (Verizon), the LG Vu (AT&T) and the Samsung Instinct (Sprint Nextel). In fact, "live" TV is one of the Instinct's jazzy features that make it a much more entertaining touch-screen phone than the iPhone. (See our "head-to-head" match-up, "iPhone 3G vs. Instinct," and video for more information.)

But such services aren't beamed directly to the phones, but carried via the carrier's cellphone network. By potentially cutting out the carrier as middleman, ATSC-M/H would potentially allow next-generation mobile devices to receive free digital TV. (Like current "off-the-air" analog broadcasts, the new "free TV" service could be supported by advertisers.)

There are obviously many questions that remain unanswered, since the standard won't be completed until early next year. (And of course, you'll need a new mobile device capable of receiving ATSC-M/H broadcasts, which may happen by the end of 2009.) But some of the more interesting ones off the top of my head:

• Is it worth the bother? One of our Blog readers thought it would be great to have a portable, digital TV as part of an emergency survival kit. But would you want to receive—and watch—live TV on such tiny screens for long? (Remember, cell phone screens rarely get any bigger than 3- or 4-inches diagonally. Perhaps that's one of the reason why, as the AP story states, less than 3 percent of American cell phone owners watch videos on their cell phones now.)
• Will U.S. carriers allow it? Adding ATSC-M/H technology shouldn't be too difficult for broadcasters and mobile device makers. But would U.S. wireless carriers be willing to sell mobile phones with a free service that draws subscribers away from the $10 to $15 per month "pay TV" services they currently offer?

What do you think? Have you ever subscribed to the pay-TV service from your cell phone service provider? Would you want free TV on your cell phone or other mobile device, such as an iPod? Weigh in on the comments section below.

—Paul Eng

Comments

[Matt]

Why do you think the government went with ATSC? It's because the cell companies don't want people to get free t.v. If they really wanted to help us out, why wouldn't they use DVB-t...pretty much the standard for everyone else in the world, and the phones that can receive that signal are so much better than the phones we have here in the U.S. Just do an eBay search for t.v. phones. They have amazing features that very few american phones have.

[Steven Antonio]

In addition to agreeing completely with what Technology said, I don't think the AP story statement that less than 3 percent of Americans watch video on their cell phones is a valid indicator of the OTA DTV market potential for cell phones because "video" on cell phones means something completely different. Currently cell phone video can be defined as really only one of two things:

1) Video clips of friends, music, ect.
2) Subscriber paid mobile TV via cell phone carrier

Both of these activities involve more money over a traditional voice plan. To receive video clips or share clips with friends requires paying for data sent and received or a data service plan. And if most Americans are like me, who would want to watch full length shows on a tiny screen? It's not worth it.

However, if you make OTA DTV available on a cell phone, I believe it would be enormously popular. While again, I wouldn't watch it for TV shows or movies of any length, I certainly would use it as many others here have already said to watch news events, weather, sports updates, emergency information, ect. If DTV is only made available by paid subscription, I will never pay for that and wait till I'm near a TV, radio, or a computer with Internet to get the information that I'm interested in. But if it's free...

[Technolgy]

Look to the asians to lead technolgy. Free TV cell phones are common in Japan, Korea. Our smart enterprising corporate leaders keep keeping us in the dark (for their profits) from easily accessing this technology eventually we will fall behind in every technology with this current model. Japan and Korea's got free TV. It does work very well...millions are benefiting from it. When will we learn or shall we just keep on falling further behind as a culture receding as others pass us by. Seems like today enterprises are doing a pretty good job at this and they will want to continue to profit at the cost of keeping the millions held back. What happened to the cause for the greater common good? I guess money is more important.

[Melody]

If Verizon would hurry up and get the mobile tv working in my area I'd pay for it. As it is my wonderful Voyager has an antenna that is useless and I striped out for a handy stylus. It is a little upsetting that the only availability for mobile tv is with the carriers here in the states, unless you wanna leave your computer at hom turned on and connected to the internet to use ORB.

[hivelozity]

i have a sony 580i...i use it like a portable dvr...simply convert content(movies, shows, news, you name it)to 3gp and load to phone to view at my convenience...no data charges...no commercials...great vid/audio quality...no problem...

[Dan Cranney]

I was caught in Hurricane IKE without power; the TV on my Instinct phone came in great as I could watch CNN to see what was going on with the storm. That is, until my cell batteries went dead because I had no power to recharge.

[Bill B.]

TV on a 3-inch screen, where ever and when ever you want it, is like an electric ice cream cone that spins around for you. Just hold your tongue out straight as you lower the lights in the room with your toe-controlled foot remote control. In fact, the electric ice cream cone exists. I saw one recently on a gadget site. So all we have to do now is decide whether we want to squint to watch TV or eat rotating ice cream.

[Paul Eng]

To Nick Dondero:

Thanks for your comment. However, what you posted is not quite true.

My colleague found at least ONE portable, battery-powered LCD TV with a built-in ATSC digital tuner. While one might think such portable digital TVs would be helpful during emergencies (such as hurricanes), right now, we don't recommend it as a sole avenue for information during emergenices.

For more information, see our post:

Essential gadgets for emergencies
http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2008/07/essential-gadge.html

Again, thanks for your comment.

-Paul Eng
Web Senior Editor, Electronics

[Nick Dondero]

Has anyone realized that there a no portable or handheld HDTV sets on the market. I wonder what will happen in the next big emergency when there is nothing available that will display emergency evacuation routes or information in graphic or text form. Yes, standard radio will still work after the shutdown of standard TV signals but TV can conveyed more information during such times.

[Mike]

With my iPhone I can download podcasts of shows like MSNBC's Countdown. It's the whole episode, minus ads. Extremely visible while watching on the el. Better than TiVO!

[Ron]

Not on my cell phone, but if they come up with a TV receiver for my iPod Touch, I'm there.

[andrew]

the only good thing about having TV on your cell phone would be for alert news,weather,sports. other than that is a waste. who can watch a tiny screen for more than 15 min?

PS: I would not pay for this service. for free, why not! just another novelty.

[Benji]

No, the carriers wouldn't go for it. They'd have the device makers strip this feature out. US customers would have to purchase non-subsidized, unlocked versions of the devices from manufacturers like HTC. One exception might be T-Mobile; with their highspeed services being launched starting in October they don't yet have the device TV revenue stream going. They may see this as an opportunity to attract customers with devices which have 'Free-TV'. They're also rumored to be the first carrier to implement video calling, with devices having front and back cameras to facilitate it. Currently, the front cameras are stripped out of the devices made for the US.

[Cassin]

I think it will be neat when we see that we no longer have to be home to watch something live. To have free TV however, I would be a bit suspicious. Would they raise their monthly bill surcharges? Its all in wonder how the company would make it free for them.

[Rocky]

I get my TV content for free, on my web-enabled cell phone, via my Slingbox hardware at home, and the Slingbox client application installed on my phone. Any channel that I can receive at home is available on my cell phone.