Motive Television is going ahead with plans to demonstrate and then roll out what it calls a "disruptive technology"--Tablet TV--that will deliver live broadcast television and VOD to tablets and smartphones, beginning in mid-2013 with a pilot demonstration at KOFY in San Francisco and concluding with a full rollout by the end of the year.
Tablet TV, unlike other online video services, is apparently cooperating with broadcasters, rather than competing with them.
"This technological breakthrough permits tablet users to view all television broadcasts receivable from public and commercial television stations in their city and the ability to time-shift the viewing of these programs." London-based Motive and its American partner Granite Broadcasting said in a statement. "In addition, Motive's patented Television Anytime Anywhere software will make possible video-on-demand catch-up and additional movies and television programs directly to the fastest-growing viewing devices--iPads and Android tablets."
Motive is working with Granite Broadcasting to let consumers view live local broadcasts, record live television with PVR functionality, datacast video-on-demand content and view social media. The technology receives signals broadcast over traditional ATSC digital streams.
The next phase of the project "will underscore the completion of a major milestone," the two companies said in a statement.
The Motive technology "has been in large-scale commercial use in TV broadcasting in Europe since 2009," the companies said.
"The demonstration pilot at KOFY in San Francisco is the next step in readying Tablet Television for the US market introduction," Motive CEO Leonard Fertig said in a statement. "Tablet TV continues to move toward its launch and becoming a significant player in delivering content to the fastest growing segment of television viewing. It will permit the television industry to see Tablet TV in action, prove Tablet TV's technical capabilities in a television broadcast environment, and make our consumer appeal apparent."
For Granite, Tablet TV means delivering "a new way that American viewers can enjoy their favorite broadcast television programs on the exponentially growing number of tablet screens," Granite Chairman Peter Markham added. "As a broadcaster we see Tablet TV as a source of additional viewing convenience for the public and a win-win for the industry."
For more:
- see this release from Motive
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