The Open Mobile Video Coalition now has 422 television station members after nine new station groups joined last week. The new member groups are Cox Television, Dispatch Broadcast Group, Freedom Broadcasting, LIN TV, Meredith, Media General, Post-Newsweek Stations, Raycom Media, and Schurz Communications.
In addition, the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS) will also join the coalition. APTS is a nonprofit corporation that provides public advocacy and other services for the 361 public television stations in the United States.
The coalition’s goal is to promote the development of technical standards for mobile digital broadcast television in the United States. “Working together on a mobile DTV standard, broadcasters can become a major factor in the mobile video arena,” said Brandon Burgess, CEO of ION Media Networks.
The group launched last April 13. It has established a timeline that calls for parallel development of standards, devices and business models with the goal of a 2009 launch. The group has also launched two test markets in Tampa, FL, and Washington, D.C.