• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, April 9, 2014

Mobile TV is still the holy grail for many local TV broadcasters -- but the pace of that important media development is barely moving.

A big TV industry-wide service, Dyle TV -- backed by a joint venture of 12 major broadcast groups -- has been testing mobile TV in certain markets. But many believe real development, and real investment, needs to arrive before the business takes off. Then consumers can easily, and cheaply, use their smartphones and/or tablets for instant access to wholesale local live TV programming.

What is that “real” money amount to? Several hundred thousand dollars for each TV station, according to a Hubbard Television executive -- not exactly chump change for medium to small TV stations.

Many TV broadcasters believe it all resides in the consumer electronic product manufacturers, which have been slow to incorporate advanced live TV technology -- perhaps because there is little upside.

Then again, if mobile consumer product companies could gain a piece of that ongoing local TV business -- a revenue-sharing agreement that could include mobile TV advertising sales -- that would be a different proposition.

One panelist at the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas believes TV stations shouldn’t be playing a wait-and-see game. They need to act soon -- and take a calculated chance.

From TV broadcasters point of view -- it’s a lot more complicated - especially where there is plenty of entropy that still exists among mobile device makers when it comes to what software and hardware will be included on mobile devices.

This is a different media landscape. The difference, of course, is that versus TV sets, smartphones/tablets can do a whole lot more than just watch video.

Smartphones and tablets weren’t developed primarily for video content  -- like decades-old consumer electronics products, televisions. TV broadcasters don’t hold all the cards like they did years ago, when it comes to all things media.

So it’s complicated. But time doesn’t stand still -- not in the digital world. TV broadcasters don’t want make a wrong step with their still valuable local TV news programming.

But the longer they wait, the less valuable that becomes as more media fractionalization awaits them.