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Qualcomm to Shut Down its Direct-to-Consumer FLO TV Operations by End of Year

Oct 5, 2010  •  Post A Comment

Qualcomm will shut down its direct-to-consumer FLO TV operations by the end of the year after failing to convince consumers to pay for a mobile-television subscription, reports PaidContent.org.

The decision comes after Qualcomm said in June that it was exploring options, the story says. The staff last week was told by Bill Stone, president of MediaFlo and FLO TV, that the mobile-TV service would shut down by year end.

Qualcomm is talking with AT&T and Verizon "about the future of its white-label wholesale service, which continues for now and includes the majority of its TV customers," the article notes. Qualcomm executives didn’t respond to requests for comment, the story says.

"Founded in 2004, the costly mobile TV venture attracted Verizon and AT&T as distribution partners but has been hampered by limited availability on devices and an inability to achieve full distribution," the story says, adding,  "It launched direct-to-consumer FLO TV in 2008 but the marketing message was muddy and consumers weren’t as interested as the company thought in acquiring a separate device and paying a subscription for mobile TV."

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