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Wednesday June 10, 2009
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 The two-year-old FLO TV mobile TV service is finally going national, thanks to this weekend's DTV transition.
If you've been wondering why everybody is getting converter boxes and new antennas for their home TVs, here's one reason: Qualcomm bought the former Channel 55 from the government so they can send a dozen pay TV channels to mobile phones and cars.
So far, FLO TV - which we gave great reviews to in 2007 and 2008 - has been a little-watched service, available on a handful of AT&T and Verizon phones and available in a few dozen cities nationwide. According to a Nielsen report in May, relatively few people watch TV on their phones, though the number is steadily growing. But AT&T's and Verizon's support for the feature actually seems to be disappearing, not increasing. Verizon only has one FLO TV phone, down from two, and AT&T hasn't refreshed their mobile TV lineup in a while.
A few things this year may improve FLO's chances. FLO's national rollout is accompanied by a big push into cars, where they hope they'll find more traction than with the chilly mobile-phone carriers. I've seen a third-party peripheral which could add FLO TV to device that don't have it, like the iPhone. And later this year, local stations will start broadcasting free mobile TV using the new Mobile DTV standard. That will require new phones and in-car devices with new chips in them, but it will potentially set up a strong ecosystem where you have free, local Mobile DTV channels accompanied by cable-like, pay FLO TV channels.
FLO will turn on 15 new markets on June 12 (including Boston, Houston, Miami and San Francisco) and expand service in many existing markets. More markets will roll out throughout the year.
If you're interested in watching FLO TV on your phone, we recommend the Motorola Krave for Verizon and the LG Vu for AT&T.
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