The European Commission has thrown its complete weight behind mobile TV standard DVB-H, but that still might not make mobile TV a success in Europe, reports IDG. First off, there’s the slight problem of a lack of business models. Second, DVB-H is a broadcast standard, and as John Strand, analyst at Strand Consulting, put it, “…Broadcast TV is dead, and …the future is TV on demand. Why would you want to bet on a dying technology?” So we’re back to the suggestion that short clips work best—which has been bandied about before. Gartner research VP Martin Gutberlet says operators should take YouTube as an inspiration: “Short clips that last a couple of minutes are perfect for mobile phones,” he said. Though, if they look to Japan, they would see that mobile TV broadcast service OneSeg does quite well since broadcasts are DRM-free and many device manufacturers have been embedding recording functions into mobile devices to allow users to view shows when they want. Finally, there’s the other niggling issue of frequencies. According to research firm Ovum, an EU-wide standard for mobile TV presupposes an EU-wide common spectrum for mobile TV, and a lack of one could lead to interference at borders. 

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