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HOME REVIEWS CONTACT ABOUT January 14, 2010
Satellite TV for
Automobiles
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Entertainment service in automobiles
is getting important new players. AT&T
has revealed plans for a satellite TV service called Cruisecast. And MediaFlo, a
wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm, is introducing a competing system called
FLO TV, that is based on cell phone technology from AudioVox. The 
Existing Players in
Current players in the automotive
TV market include Sirius XM's Backseat TV (also an AudioVox partner), an optional service from Sirius XM which
offers limited video programming featuring Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and
Cartoon Network combined with the standard audio programming. However, the quality of the Backseat TV
system has been a disappointment. At its
best, the picture is poor, and sometimes it is worse than poor.
Sirius XM currently has more than
19 million subscribers, and its adoption rate has outpaced that of the wireless
and satellite television industries. However, the rate of growth has slowed in
recent years. Sirius
XM gained about 10 percent more subscribers last year, compared to 27 percent
growth in 2007 and 48 percent growth in 2006.
Sirius XM is currently battling financial problems, holding more than $3
billion in debt ($559 million of the debt matures this year). Echostar, the
owners of the Dish Network, is courting Sirius.
This combination would have significant implications for the satellite
TV for automobiles business.
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The
business model for all of these services is to provide pay-for-service
entertainment, analogous to the business model for premium cable
television. In the
AT&T Cruisecast
The AT&T Cruisecast
system will cost about $1300 for the hardware, and $28 per month for the
satellite subscription. The hardware
requires installation of a small satellite antenna on the roof of the vehicle. At the price of the hardware, a security
system should probably be included. The
size of the antenna is approximately 10" X 11", and 4" in
height. The technology is sophisticated
enough to buffer the signal for interruptions.
If you temporarily lose the signal by going under a tree, overpass, or
tunnel, for a period of up to 3 minutes, the service will not be
interrupted. The picture is standard
definition TV, not HDTV. AT&T is
partnering in the effort with RaySat Incorporated (
RaySat has previously offered a similar system called TracVision that worked with DirecTV. The hardware for this
system was even more expensive, costing about $3000. The antenna was significantly larger, and the
system did not include the buffering feature.
Cruisecast system satellite technology is based on Ku band
transmission, with a bandwidth of 500-600 kilobits per second. The antenna needs exposure
to the southern sky to receive the signal. The antenna is receiving a signal
from a satellite in geostationary orbit over the equator. There is an electronics module that interfaces
between the antenna and the monitors.
This module can go in the trunk, or under a seat. This module is comparable to the set-top box
for cable TV. A remote control is
included for changing channels on the electronics module via an Rf signal, so that line-of-sight
is not needed.
Don't look for Howard
Stern on the Cruisecast lineup. Instead AT&T will focus on family
entertainment, including the Disney Channel, Discovery Kids, The Animal Planet,
Nickelodeon, The Cartoon Network Mobile, and Comedy Central. In addition, news channels from MSNBC, CNN
Mobile Live and CNBC are planned.
"Our target audience is families with children," said RaySat CEO Yoel Gat. The Cruisecast
lineup totals 22 video and 20 audio channels.
Car rental companies Budget and Avis plan to offer the Cruisecast service at some locations for about $10 per day.