Consumers are/aren't hot for mobile TV: World Cup edition

While European carriers may hope that the soccer World Cup will provide a boost for mobile TV, feuds over formats, standards and rights have left the service providers with a hodge podge of offerings that will likely drive viewers straight home to their fixed-location sets. In Germany alone, disagreements among 15 regional communication authorities has left some customers able to watch only a portion of the games live, with coverage of others limited to clips. The battle between DVB-H -- favored by most carriers -- and DMB (which is more widely available) has only exacerbated the confusion. As Reuters points out, though, the cellular providers' loss is a win for TV companies; companies such as Sony and LG see their LCD sales going up in Europe, in part because of World Cup-driven demand.