Washington, D.C., May 15, 2008 – In the continued work on standardization for mobile/handheld devices for DTV transmission, the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has received a report from the Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC) detailing the Independent Demonstration of Viability (IDOV) laboratory tests and field evaluations conducted earlier this year in the San Francisco Bay Area and Las Vegas.

Completed IDOV evaluations constitute an important milestone in the ATSC’s creation of a standard that will enable broadcasters to launch mobile DTV services that will effectively serve the American public.

“We were pleased to receive the report from the OMVC,” commented Mark Richer, President of the ATSC. “We appreciate their efforts, and the report provides information critical to our decision process. Our Specialist Group on Mobile & Handheld Services (TSG/S4) will be reviewing this information thoroughly over the next few weeks.”

ATSC-M/H is being developed to support a variety of services including free (advertiser-supported) television and interactive services delivered in real-time, subscription-based TV, and file-based content download for playback at a later time. The standard may also be used for transmission of new data broadcasting services such as real-time navigation data for in-vehicle use.

“The enormous effort and dedication of resources by OMVC is another strong indicator that the industry has a high level of interest in the ATSC efforts to develop the ATSC-M/H Standard,” said Glenn Reitmeier, Chair of the ATSC Board of Directors.

The Advanced Television Systems Committee is an international, non-profit organization developing voluntary standards for digital television. The ATSC member organizations represent the broadcast, broadcast equipment, motion picture, consumer electronics, computer, cable, satellite and semiconductor industries. For more information visit www.atsc.org.

ATSC-M/H is being developed to support a variety of services including free (advertiser-supported) television and interactive services delivered in real-time, subscription-based TV, and Non-real-time content download for playback at a later time. The standard may also be used for transmission of new data broadcasting services such as real-time navigation data for in-vehicle use.

ATSC-NRT addresses the new reality that consumers are increasingly in control and want information and entertainment content, when and where they want it. By leveraging the low cost of storage in receivers, broadcasters utilizing the ATSC-NRT Standard will be able download content to a new generation of products.

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Contact Lindsay Shelton-Gross, ATSC (202) 872-9160, lsheltongross@atsc.org