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Apr 13, 2012

Mobile500 Alliance picks up four more public broadcasters

Four more pubTV stations have joined the Mobile500 Alliance, a group of TV broadcasters advocating for partnerships to accelerate the nationwide availability of a commercial mobile digital television service. The organization is headed by John Lawson, a former APTS president.

New to the alliance are Chicago's WTTW, Maryland Public Television, Public Broadcasting Atlanta and New Mexico PBS. They join three other pubcasters in the alliance, MHz Networks in Washington, D.C., WGBH in Boston and Twin Cities Public Television in Minneapolis-St. Paul. WGBH, Public Broadcasting Atlanta, and New Mexico PBS are already broadcasting Mobile DTV.

Dan Schmidt, WTTW president, said the station's board formed a committee to consider the best options for using WTTW's broadcast spectrum. "We concluded that Mobile DTV held the most promise for extending our brand and services to new audiences, and we liked the open, entrepreneurial approach of Mobile500," he said in the announcement.

The alliance now includes 50 commercial and public station groups with 437 full-power television stations.