- Dubai Seeks Debt Delay, Stokes Default Fears
- Black Friday to Avoid Red Ink; Greenback Gets the Blues
- Bankruptcies Jump, Hitting Highest Level in Four Years
- AIG, Ex-CEO Greenberg Reach Pact to Settle Disputes
- Bank of America CEO Search May Extend Into 2010
- Steepest Black Friday Discounts, Revealed
- Fed to Counsel Moviegoers on How to Use Credit Cards
- 'Cancer of Fraud' Permeates Health Care System: Critics
- Where Do Pardoned Turkeys Go?
- 4 Thanksgiving Week Buys For Your Portfolio: Market Pros
- There's a 'Great Chance' For a Double-Dip Recession: Strategist
- Revenge of the Gangsta Nerds
- Will TCU See The "Flutie Effect?"
- Retail Earnings and Sales to Improve in Q4: Analyst
- Consumers Catching the Holiday Spirit
- It's Beginning To Look A Lot More Riskless
- Crescenzi: Claims Level Suggests End to Job Losses
- Hedge Funds Take Early Lead in Warren Buffett's 'Big Bet'
- Australian tax office bills TPG for $629 million
- Neb. drops theft charges against auto executives
- Judge tells Reserve Primary fund to pay out assets
- Freedom Comm. discloses buyer for Arizona paper
- AIG cuts salaries to 3 top executives
- Correction: Credit Suisse-Colorado story
- Global Defense Technology & Systems closes IPO
- BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank sue Bank of America
- Business events scheduled for the coming month
Text Size 
Washington, D.C. will be the first United States city to get free digital TV broadcasts for mobile devices like cell phones, laptop computers and in-car entertainment systems, broadcasters were set to announce Monday.
Broadcasts using new "mobile DTV" technology are expected to begin in late summer from five stations: local affiliates of CBS, NBC, PBS and Ion and one independent station owned by Fox.
The initial broadcasts will be identical to those beamed to TV sets, including the advertising.
It's unclear what devices might be available with the special receivers needed for the new signals. Cell phones are main candidates for the technology, but the wireless carriers have shown no enthusiasm, and the largest two have their own TV services, which require subscriptions.
However, Dell will be showing a prototype of a small laptop with a built-in mobile DTV receiver at the National Association of Broadcasters trade show in Las Vegas this week.
The computer maker joins cell phone makers LG and Samsung in supporting the technology. Kenwood Corp. is developing car-based receivers.
The companies backing the technology in the Open Mobile Video Coalition said Washington was chosen as a test market because the city is full of tech-savvy viewers who pay attention to local news.
Attention from politicians and regulators probably doesn't hurt either — the coalition has earlier pointed to the usefulness of free mobile TV broadcasts in case of emergencies and disasters like hurricanes.
Broadcasters plan to quickly start broadcasts in more than two dozen other cities by the end of the year, covering 39 percent of U.S. households. Among the target cities are New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston and Atlanta.
Print
Email
- For nearly three decades, these on-call experts have been dishing advice on how to – and not to – cook turkey.
- Eric Schmidt pledges to create a virtual copy of the Iraq National Museum at Google’s expense.
- Bill Griffeth is taking a leave of absence from CNBC and Power Lunch for a year. Here's a message from Bill.
- More shoppers than ever plan to comparison-shop this season. Who will benefit?
- It may be the most unusual guide to business you'll read.
- How can you get out of debt and back on the road to recovery? Follow these ten steps.
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes