The Advanced Television Systems Committee said its ATSC-M/H spec would allow broadcasters to deliver signals to handheld receivers, laptops and automobiles. "ATSC-H/M will be backwards compatible, allowing operation of existing ATSC services in the same RF channel without an adverse impact on existing receiving equipment," ATSC President Mark Richer said in a statement.

The new spec would allow broadcasters to allocate part of their 19.39-Mbyte/sec signal for mobile services while also transmitting HDTV signals.

The group said its mobile broadcast standard will support free and subscription-based TV, interactive services delivered in real time and content downloads for playback at a later time. Real-time transmission of navigation data to vehicles is another potential application, the group said.

Samsung Electronics is proposing advanced vestigial sideband technology it introduced during the Consumer Electronics Show in January as an ATSC standard.

The announcement of plans for a U.S. mobile TV standard comes as European broadcasters struggle to promote mobile TV services.