ALLIANCE TO PROMOTE MOBILE TELEVISON APPLICATIONS
BALTIMORE, April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- David Smith, President
and CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI), commented today
on the significance of the newly formed Open Mobile Video Coalition whose
role it is to promote and accelerate the development of mobile digital
television. The Coalition was founded by nine of the largest U.S.
television broadcast groups, including Sinclair Broadcast Group, FOX
Television Stations, the NBC and Telemundo Television Stations, Tribune
Broadcasting Company, Gray Television, Gannett Broadcasting, Belo
Television Group, and ION Media Networks. These companies collectively
represent over 280 television stations in 110 U.S. markets reaching 85% of
the total television households. Since the Coalition is an open alliance
for the benefit of the industry, all television broadcasters are encouraged
to join.
"As a long-time supporter and advocate of mobile TV, we are thrilled
that technological advances will now enable broadcasters to reach the
portable and mobile device community," commented David Smith, President and
CEO of Sinclair. "No longer will a viewer need to be seated in their house
to watch their favorite programs. The new standards will allow the
population to receive broadcast television while walking, sitting in moving
vehicles, or being at a location where a television set is not present but
a video-enabled mobile device is. The technology enables the broadcast of
the TV station's programming 24 hours a day, to such hand-held devices as
cell phones, PCs, in- car entertainment systems, and personal media players
and allows people to watch popular programs such as sporting events, news
and entertainment shows in real-time rather than on a delayed basis. Mobile
TV could also provide another venue by which other content providers can
reach people on the move and law enforcement agencies can quickly reach out
to a larger segment of the population with such information as terrorist or
amber alerts.
"If you consider that the 100 million mobile video device units
estimated to be sold in the U.S. in 2007 is almost equivalent to the number
of total TV households in the country, then clearly there is significant
potential for broadcasters to extend reach, keep the viewing audience tuned
in to their favorite programs, and offer a greater array of programming
options through mobile digital television. According to a January 25, 2007
article by Antone Gonsalves in Information Week, entitled, 'Consumers are
Ready for Mobile TV,' commercial trials conducted in Italy, Finland and the
United Kingdom revealed that 50% of wireless subscribers were willing to
pay for mobile television. To put this into perspective, the same article
references a white paper authored by Yoram Solomon, President of the Mobile
DTV Alliance, in which he estimates that 'if a quarter of the subscribers
of U.S. operators are willing to pay $20 a month for the [mobile TV]
service, carriers would take in a total of $12 billion annually. At that
rate, even if half of the revenue went directly to content owners ... there
is still plenty of profit to share.' The exciting news is that the
technology exists and consumer electronic manufacturers are forecasting for
it to be ready for public consumption as early as next year.
Smith continued, "The Coalition has been formed to help accelerate the
development, promote the uses, and educate the public on mobile digital
television. We believe this technology, if fully-implemented, could create
an entirely new revenue stream for broadcasters, while providing the public
with viable methods to receive their favorite programs when away from
home."
About the Open Mobile Video Coalition:
The Open Mobile Video Coalition is a voluntary association of
television broadcasters whose mission it is to accelerate the development
of mobile digital broadcast television in the U.S. Membership is open to
all U.S. based television broadcasters. Members are committed to fostering
open competition in the development of products and services related to
television. The Coalition's charter includes serving as a forum for members
and affiliates regarding product requirement and technology specifications;
promoting the development of products, services and standards; and
educating broadcasters, technology developers, consumers and regulators
about the value, benefits and applications of mobile digital broadcasting.
For more information, please visit http://www.openmobilevideo.com.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., one of the largest and most diversified
television broadcasting companies, currently owns and operates, programs or
provides sales services to 58 television stations in 36 markets. Sinclair's
television group reaches approximately 22% of the U.S. television
households and is affiliated with all the major networks. For more
information, please visit, http://www.sbgi.net.
Forward-Looking Statements:
The matters discussed in this press release include forward-looking
statements regarding, among other things, future operating results. When
used in this press release, the words "outlook," "intends to," "believes,"
"anticipates," "expects," "achieves," and similar expressions are intended
to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to a
number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results in the future could
differ materially and adversely from those described in the forward-looking
statements as a result of various important factors, including and in
addition to the assumptions identified herein this release, the development
and implementation of mobile digital television, the impact of changes in
national and regional economies, successful execution of outsourcing
agreements, pricing and demand fluctuations in local and national
advertising, volatility in programming costs, the market acceptance of new
programming, the CW Television Network and MyNetworkTV programming, our
news share strategy, our local sales initiatives, the execution of
retransmission consent agreements and the other risk factors set forth in
the Company's most recent reports on Form 10-Q and Form 10-K, as filed with
the Securities and Exchange Commission. There can be no assurances that the
assumptions and other factors referred to in this release will occur. The
Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any
revisions to these forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.sbgi.net/
http://www.openmobilevideo.com
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/110203.html/
CONTACT:
David Smith, President & CEO of Sinclair
Broadcast Group, Inc., +1-410-568-1500
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