By Carolyn Braff

Starting May 4, AT&T subscribers will never again have to miss a final shot, last drive or penalty shootout. In partnership with MediaFLO USA, AT&T is launching its new Mobile TV with FLO service, allowing sports fans to watch their favorite teams live and in color right from their mobile phones, wherever they may be. 

“We really believe live sports is the killer application for mobile,” says Mike Bailey, vice president of programming for MediaFLO USA. “Sports is fleeting. You want to have it while it is actually going on live, so if you are away from your big screen HD TV, now you can still stay in touch with some of the biggest and best sports.” 

The FLO TV service offers full-length, TV-quality programming delivered through MediaFLO’s dedicated multicast network, so phone time is not restricted by TV watching and users do not incur per-minute charges. Even better, the bandwidth delivery of the content relies not on a cellular network, but on MediaFLO’s independent network, so limited cell service will not interrupt the game. 

“We can effectively serve an unlimited number of fans simultaneously for a single live sports event,” Bailey says. 

The dedicated mobile feeds from partners like CBS Mobile, ESPN Mobile TV, Fox Mobile and NBC 2Go are usually simulcast with what is on the network’s television broadcast, while some news and entertainment content is time-shifted. Available sports programming currently includes live coverage of the NBA playoffs from ESPN Mobile TV, Big 12 college baseball from Fox Mobile and NHL Stanley Cup Playoff games from NBC 2Go. 

“We also have a rich lineup of golf from the likes of ESPN and NBC, Fox makes English Premiere League soccer games available, and looking forward to the fall, we will have as many as nine college football games available per week,” Bailey adds.

MediaFLO designed the programming guide to mimic the look of a cable provider's easy-to-read user interface – and made channel surfing a breeze. 

“Unlike other technologies that are in the marketplace for mobile, this has a very fast channel-changing time,” Bailey says. “A key component for the MediaFLO service is to be able to transition from one channel to the next very quickly and easily, and as part of that, you can scroll ahead up to two days in the guide.” 

The MediaFLO network is currently available in 58 cities from coast to coast, accommodating approximately 140 million people. Monthly access packages for the AT&T service begin at $15 a month with a limited basic package available for $13.