The governing body for television standards in the US is the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC), an international, non-profit organization developing voluntary standards for digital television. On Friday, the ATSC approved a policy that would allow TV stations to "provide new compelling services to consumers utilizing a wide array of wireless receiving devices including mobile phones, small handheld DTVs, laptop computers and in-vehicle entertainment systems," most of important of which is the live streaming of shows.
The policy,
A/ 153 ATSC Mobile DTV Standard, could open up the existing airwaves for local TV stations to broadcast directly to mobile devices -- including the iPhone,
sans third-party apps . As of now, live TV streaming on the iPhone is limited - strictly - to Wi-Fi connections, and even that is a
bit iffy these days.
Rob Pegoraro, of the
Washington Post, attended a demonstration of "mobile ATSC" and said that "mobile digital-TV broadcasting [is] something you should see in products sometime next year."
With the FCC Chairman
shaking things up and standards like this being set, things are looking good for the once
notoriously restrictive Apple iPhone.
