ION's Station Upgrades Support Industry Plan to Initiate Mobile TV Services for Portable Devices
ION Media Networks announces today its plan to upgrade its station markets in the first quarter 2011, enabling TV content to be transmitted to mobile devices in the nation's top 10 television markets. The initiative continues ION's long-standing role in encouraging and supporting a collaborative industry effort to make Mobile Digital Television part of a next-generation multimedia broadcast system for U.S. consumers.
Following its pioneering role in orchestrating industry R&D collaboration for mobile television in the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC), ION supports the resulting coordinated business efforts, including from groups such as Mobile Content Venture (MCV) and Mobile500.
"We look forward to advancing Mobile DTV as part of a comprehensive next-generation broadcast offering for 21st century TV viewers," says Brandon Burgess, CEO, ION Media Networks. "We welcome collaborative efforts among groups such as MCV and Mobile500 and support their efforts to advance dialogues with device manufacturers."
ION will have its top 10 markets Mobile-TV-ready in within 60 days, establishing mobile transmission capability in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Dallas, Washington DC, Atlanta, Boston and Detroit.
As contemplated under the MCV business partnership roll-out plans, ION will enable stations in these key markets to deliver two mobile feeds including its primary ION Television general entertainment network and its Qubo children's programming network.
About ION Media Networks
ION Media Networks, Inc. owns and operates the nation's largest broadcast television station group and ION Television, which reaches over 98 million U.S. television households via its nationwide broadcast television, cable and satellite distribution systems. It features popular TV series and movies from the award winning libraries of CBS Television, NBC Universal, Sony Pictures Television, Twentieth Television and Warner Bros., among others. Using its DTV spectrum capacity, the Company has launched new digital TV brands, including Qubo, the nation's only nationwide over-the-air kids network, and ION Life, a channel dedicated to active living and personal growth. It also has launched Open Mobile Ventures Corporation, a unit focused on the development of portable, mobile and out-of-home transmission technology using over-the-air digital television spectrum. For more information, visit www.ionmedia.com.
Contacts:
ION Media Networks
Christina Gilmartin, 212-603-8429
christinagilmartin@ionmedia.com
