Today the Winning Media Strategies conference kicked off in Washington, D.C. One of the fruits of the BIA/Kelsey marriage, it’s bringing the Kelsey conference format to BIA’s longstanding audience and constituent base in local broadcast media.

One thing that stood out as a theme throughout today’s sessions was the mobile opportunity. It was mostly discussed in terms of how the mobile device can extend the viewing or listening audience in an incremental fashion.

“Building on a mature media platform, mobile has the ability to extend home-based viewing,” said Glenn Reitmeier, NBC Universal VP of technology standards and policy.

This comment reminded me of data I saw recently from MobiTV, indicating that 85 percent of mobile video viewers report watching more TV. In principle, it’s also similar to a later remark by Pierre Bouvard, Arbitron exec VP of sales, who said online radio listeners aren’t reporting any detraction from the amount of terrestrial radio they’re listening to.

Back to mobile, its opportunities with broadcast media are further supported by looking at the fact that both are delivered over the air. Regulatory and technology barriers stand in the way of mobile devices receiving broadcast signals, but we are starting to see some companies such as MobiTV (carrier delivered subscription service) and uStream (iPhone app) move in that direction.

“When we talk about mobile, for once, here is an industry that is a plus for [broadcast],” said Dick Wiley, partner at D.C. law firm Wiley Rein. “We’re going to continue to see improvements in storage capacity for immediate viewing and playback. Getting content wherever and whenever will be something that is well tailored to younger viewers.”

We’ll pick up the discussion tomorrow in a session devoted to many of these topics:

How Broadcasters Can Get the Local Edge in Mobile

What are the opportunities for broadcasters in local mobile media? We’ll start with the BIA/Kelsey forecast of the advertising revenue growth in local mobile media to 2013. We’ll identify specific opportunities for broadcasters in new parts of the advertising pie. This includes local content, mobile video, messaging and even interactive applications for mobile devices. In addition to advertising revenue models, subscription revenue models are also explored. Broadcasters can leverage local content, local sales forces and develop cross platform media campaigns to add unique value to their sales and marketing solutions.

Speakers:

Sam Matheny, General Manager, News Over Wireless
Ivan Braiker, CEO, HipCricket
Michael Boland, Program Director, Mobile Local Media, The Kelsey Group