MobiTV announced it has reached its 5 millionth viewer a few months after surpassing the 4 million mark. MobiTV credited the unprecedented interest in the US presidential election, which increased viewership of its news channels during the debates and on Election Day.
‘There was a 111% increase over average daily viewing during the third presidential debate,’ MobiTV President Paul Scanlan told RCR Wireless, ‘and a 373% increase for Election Day. Those numbers not only indicate exciting times for US politics, but for mobile television as well.’
MobiTV is seeing success and increased viewership as premium mobile TV services are giving way and losing ground both in the US and the rest of the world. MobiTV seems to believe in the future of its industry, recently announcing that it is a member of the Advanced Television Systems Committee – a nonprofit organization that announced mobile DTV specifications as a “candidate standard.”
DTV is backed by the Open Mobile Video Coalition, which represents more than 800 US TV stations that want to enter the mobile TV market. DTV will use the spectrum which broadcasters will vacate in February, with its backers promising efficient, inexpensive ways to deliver quality mobile video.