Germany: Mobile TV gets out of the starting blocks

ProSieben Sat.1 has launched the first full mobile program for cell phones. It offers a 24-hour program that changes daily and is specially tailored to the viewing habits of mobile TV viewers. The program will also focus on a specific genre every day of the week, e.g. comedy on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Competitor RTL already has a service on the market (see ). Mobilcom with mobile TV on the market Since the beginning of the week, the mobile service provider Mobilcom has also been offering mobile TV in twelve German cities. Mobilcom is using the DMB standard. This competes with the DVB-H standard, which is currently being tested and is not yet available nationwide. In addition to the ProSieben Sat.1 channels, the Mobilcom offer includes the full program of the news channel N24 and ZDF. Mobilcom is cooperating with Mobiles Fernsehen Deutschland (MFD), which has received the nationwide broadcasting license for the DMB standard and is currently negotiating with other broadcasters about feeding in their programs.
Burda and Holtzbrinck do not want to stand on the sidelines The Burda media group and the Holtzbrinck publishing group are taking a stake in mobile media specialist Neva so as not to stand on the sidelines in the mobile TV business. They are each acquiring a 33.3 percent stake in Neva. In the new company structure, the company will operate its platform business under the name "Mobile 3.0". Neva is focusing on the mobile standard DVB-H. DVB-H is to be rolled out as a largely nationwide network in Germany in the coming months (see
). However, the Federal Cartel Office has yet to approve the deal.