A Boost for Local Media

Traditional broadcasters are finding new ways to stay competitive with cable and the internet. And technology may help them succeed.

At the recent National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas I found traditional media outlets embracing new technology to survive. Dennis Wharton is the Executive Vice President of Media Relations for the NAB and says broadcasting is embracing the younger generation. Wharton says the industry is working on streaming live local television to mobile devices and the backseats of cars and planting FM chips so cell phones will have radio capability. But aside from entertainment Wharton says broadcasting will remain the most effective means of communication in times of trouble.

“It’s also a public safety issue because there’s no technology that does better than broadcasting in times of crisis and emergency, weather alerts, god forbid a terrorist incident. You want to have broadcasting capability on these mobile devices to enable people access to programming in times of crisis as well.”

Steven Mckenna is the Vice President for Media and Entertainment at Hewlett Packard and says all this new technology means booming business for HP. Mckenna says people are going to need more speed and storage on handheld devices and HP is working to provide it.