Qualcomm's FLO TV mobile television service will expand into 39 new markets in the United States by the end of this year, including 15 new markets immediately after the digital TV transition on June 12, the company says.
The 15 markets include Boston, Houston, Miami and San Francisco. Also immediately after June 12, FLO TV will increase coverage in the existing markets of Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. (I already can watch FLO TV in my area in the Washington suburbs.)
Expansion into the new markets will increase the number of potential subscribers by 60 million, the company says. By the end of this year, FLO TV will cover at total of more than 100 U.S. markets with a population of more than 200 million people, Qualcomm says.
25 minutes of viewing per month
The company says its market research shows subscribers watch FLO TV an average of more than 25 minutes per day. That time is equal to the average time U.S. cellular subscribers spend talking on their phones every day, according to the CTIA's Semi-Annual Wireless Industry Survey," Qualcomm says.
"The appeal of FLO TV's live programming is illustrated by a consistent pattern of increased viewership and consumer demand for major sporting and significant news events including an increase of 80 percent or more during the Presidential Inauguration and the 2008 Summer Olympics (exclusive programming to AT&T)," the company says.
Sascha Segan, a cellular phone writer for PC Magazine and other publications, writes on Gearlog that although the number of people watching mobile TV is increasing, it's still a really small number. Also, he notes that Verizon Wireless and AT&T Mobility, which offer FLO subscriptions, sell only one or two FLO-compatible phones and those aren't new models.
Other efforts
Segan is certainly correct. But as he notes, perhaps FLO's upcoming entry into providing service to vehicle entertainment systems and the Open Mobile Video Coalition's efforts to promote free mobile TV beginning this summer will bear fruit.
[Sent to TypePad via wireless e-mail with RIM BlackBerry Bold 9000.] Updated 10:00 p.m. EDT.
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