Coming soon to cellphones: Free, over-the-air TV

— -- Millions of consumers by year's end should be able to watch free, over-the-air television on cellphones, PDAs and other portable digital devices as the result of initiatives that will be unveiled Thursday by some of the nation's largest TV station owners and electronics manufacturers.

The changes promoting on-the-go viewing are "quite significant," says John Eck, president of the NBC TV Network and Media Works. "If we play it right, it can be a compelling service," for example, by offering local news, which normally isn't available from cellphone video services.

At least 63 stations in 22 cities — including New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston and Washington — will transmit news, entertainment and sports to portable devices this year, according to the broadcast industry's Open Mobile Video Coalition (OMVC).

The initial group will include affiliates of ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, CW, ION and PBS. Each city will have a different mix. Most will simulcast regularly scheduled shows.

In conjunction with the announcement, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, manufacturers including LG, Samsung, Zenith and Kenwood will display mobile receivers due in stores later this year.

Portable digital broadcasting became practical over the last few months. The OMVC zeroed in on an inexpensive transmission process that addresses a serious problem in the national switch from analog to digital television in February.

"The digital TV standard that was adopted by the Federal Communications Commission in 1996 was optimized for high-definition pictures on fixed sets," says LG Electronics USA's John Taylor. "But when you move around, the signal breaks up."

That affects the few current battery-powered portable digital TVs popular in disaster-prone areas.

Executives say that consumers with the specially equipped new receivers can watch shows in moving cars and trains.

Stations had to be able to receive a signal from the receivers, so they can tell advertisers how many people tune in, says ION Media Networks CEO Brandon Burgess, who's also president of the OMVC. That could later be used for interactive and subscription services.