Tuning in to popular TV programming while at home or on the go is now as simple — and ubiquitous — as powering up a broadband connection.
AT&T Inc. and MobiTV, Inc., the global leader in television and music services for all things mobile and broadband, lately announced an agreement to offer a mobile television service to broadband users in the United States, including AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet and AT&T WorldNet subscribers.
The browser-based service, which will be called AT&T Broadband TV, will enable subscribers to use a computer to access a wealth of live programming while at home, at work, or on the go using wired and wireless broadband technologies.
The AT&T Broadband TV service features about 20 channels of live and made-for-broadband content. The channel lineup includes the History Channel, the Weather Channel, the Food Network, Bloomberg and Oxygen, on any computer with a broadband connection for $20 per month, adding to AT&T’s line-up of video products to meet growing demand for mobile and over-the-Web entertainment.
Additional channels will be added soon, the company said without elaborating.
The content is being provided by MobiTV Inc., a company that has specialized in delivering live cable channels to cell phones through wireless carriers such as Sprint Nextel Corp. and Cingular Wireless, which is majority owned by AT&T.
Through the deal, AT&T becomes the first U.S. broadband provider to offer a live TV subscription service with MobiTV to consumers through any broadband connection. The service expands upon an earlier agreement that enables AT&T to offer MobiTV to customers who use thousands of AT&T Wi-Fi hot spots.
The industry-leading, browser-based service features desktop integration for easy access, fast channel-changing, full-screen functionality and quality video playback. Subscribers can quickly access AT&T Broadband TV through a hyperlink or desktop shortcut.
As compared with many Internet-based video services, where the viewing window is considerably smaller than most computer monitors, the new AT&T offering will allow users to expand the picture to full screen. The service requires Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Media Player for playback.
Viewers will see whatever commercials are being shown on the live broadcast, but no advertisements are planned for the browser window and control panel that frame the TV picture.
Consumers can test-drive and order the new service at http://att.mobitv.com. The companies will also market the AT&T Broadband TV offering on the AT&T WorldNet portal at http://www.att.net.
Although the service does not work overseas, AT&T said one target customer group would be U.S. travelers, who will be able to watch live TV on their laptops as long as their Internet connection speed is at least 500 kilobits per second.
The new service faces competition from all corners of the media and technology world, from free Webcasts of prime-time TV shows such as "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost" that are available on ABC’s site, to movie download services like CinemaNow and online video services such as YouTube and Google Video.
It would also compete against Sling Media Inc., whose $200 consumer electronics device lets viewers watch all of their cable channels on Internet-connected laptops and handheld devices with no monthly fee.
The AT&T Broadband TV service offers our customers the ability to watch live television programming beyond the TV screen, increasing our capabilities to provide compelling content to consumers who are seeking information and entertainment when, where and on the device they desire, said Scott Helbing, executive vice president, AT&T Entertainment Services.
“The deal helps further enhance AT&T’s broadband service and three-screen initiative by offering differentiated broadband-enabled content that consumers are increasingly demanding.”
Television is officially available on the PC now and will reach television fans in their home, office, college dorm, at the airport or anywhere they happen to be, said Dr. Phillip Alvelda, CEO, chairman and co- founder of MobiTV. "MobiTV and AT&T will deliver premium quality content seamlessly across all broadband networks, making entertainment, and wireless technology history."
AT&T, the biggest U.S. phone company, said it would work with media streaming services provider MobiTV Inc. to offer the service, which will also offer programs from Food Network, History Channel and Bloomberg TV.
Phone companies like AT&T and Verizon Communications Inc. have launched Web and video services over the past year to compete with cable companies that have taken away their customers with combined video, voice and Internet services.
AT&T recently launched AT&T Homezone, a groundbreaking new television service that integrates AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet, AT&T DISH Network satellite television and AT&T Home Networking services via a single device. The company said it now has 7.8 million subscribers for its DSL (digital subscriber lines) service.
Fox News is available to AT&T Yahoo! High Speed Internet subscribers only.
Apple Computer Inc., which helped jumpstart the trend by adding TV episodes to its iTunes music store, said in June it had sold more than 30 million videos and was selling videos at a rate of roughly 1 million a week.
While live TV feeds over the Internet are relatively uncommon so far, online downloading of video clips and TV programs have hit the mainstream over the past year.
A recent AP-AOL Video poll found that more than half of Internet users have watched or downloaded video. News clips were the most popular, seen by 72 percent of online video viewers, followed by short movie and TV clips, music videos, sports highlights and user-generated videos like those on YouTube Inc.’s popular Web site.