FLO TV Goes Nationwide

By Amy Gilroy -- TWICE, 6/10/2009

San Diego — MediaFLO said it will finally go nationwide, expanding its FLO TV live mobile TV service into 39 new markets reaching an additional 60 million customers after the DTV transition this Friday.

The expansion is possible as the DTV transition will free up broadband spectrum, enabling MediaFLO to “turn on” 15 markets immediately following June 12, including Boston, Houston, Miami and San Francisco. Other markets will follow throughout the year.

MediaFLO, a division of Qualcomm, will also expand service in some of the markets it already serves including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, reaching more than 200 million potential customers by the end of 2009, it said.

FLO TV is now offered to cellphone customers by Verizon and AT&T.

FLO TV is also expanding beyond the cellphone market into car electronics. Audiovox announced at International CES it will offer a FLO TV car DTV tuner. It is expected to ship in early October at a target $599 to $699 installed price through new car dealers with other car retailers to follow a few months later.

The FLO TV service offers simulcast and time-shifted programming from CBS, ESPN, FOX, MTV, NBC and other entertainment services. It uses its own dedicated mobile network to deliver the video content.

MediaFLO says a recent Nielsen report found that mobile video viewing grew 52 percent in the first quarter 2009 compared with the previous year.