In the latest development of mobile video services, a forward looking local broadcaster that prides itself on cutting-edge technology announced it will begin offering local video feeds to cell phone users.

Steve Sechrist
Senior Analyst and Editor
of Projection Monthly &
Microdisplay Report

WRAL, a local CBS affiliate in Raleigh, NC is using a custom application and service developed in-house, by station owner Capital Broadcasting. The service dubbed News Over Wireless (www.newsoverwireless.com) offers a full complement of local broadcast information including Mobile News updates, weather conditions, traffic updates, and sports scores through a subscription service designed for use on most Sprint Vision-enabled devices and Verizon Wireless Mobile Web 2.0 phones.

The service is quite robust with special newscasts designed for the smaller screen. Weather includes 5-day forecasts, Doppler radar and four other maps; traffic offers real-time shots of 50 area highway cams and rout alternatives. The station said its news reports will last up to two minutes and will be updated three times daily Monday through Friday, twice daily Saturday and Sunday; the one-minute weather feeds will be updated four times daily on weekdays. A sports update will be issued every morning, and video of more than a dozen of the day’s top news stories will be available.

Wireless phone users can pick and choose the segments they want to watch, when they want to watch them. Whatever they choose will automatically be the latest update available said Jimmy Goodmon Jr., vice president and general manager of Capitol’s new media group.

For the broadcaster, we think new mobile services like this are a God-send. It ushers in the digital era in a way that leverages the local competitive advantage over national feeds and web portals. It takes advantage of content and services already being produced by the station and expands viewers in new markets that will have a positive impact on all important station ratings.

For the wireless service provider, such services are the "Tao" (OK, the way) to additional fees. While most TV programming can be downloaded off-line, it’s the real-time feeds provided by local TV that matter most to viewers who are stuck in traffic and looking for the best alternative route, or those needing info on the high school lock-down because a bad guy got out.

Perhaps one reason why mobile video adoption has been lackluster for the service providers like Sprint is that most mobile video content on cell phones today comes from MSNBC or CNN-the relevance is not local.

Let’s forget we’re in the digital age for a moment and focus on one clear idea. TV broadcasting has been about local news, weather, and sports for the past fifty years; and with services like WRAL in the palm of your hand, that run can extend into the next fifty –SS