MediaFLO's FLO TV services takes real-time TV channels directly from broadcasters (over fiber optic cables and satellite feeds) and transcodes them into the MediaFLO waveform at the network operations center. At the same time, it reduces the resolution of the video to QVGA and the bandwidth to around 200-250 Kb/s, because when you’re viewing  on a 2” or 3” screen, you don’t need the same size image as you do when you're watching on a big-screen TV. Simply compressing the image would introduce artifacts. However, combining the signal with transcoding produces an image with plenty of detail but which is small enough to transmit over UHF (ultra-high frequency) and can fit 20 video channels and 10 stereo audio channels into the bandwidth of a single analog TV channel.

The UHF broadcast doesn’t go directly from the San Diego site. Instead, it’s sent up by microwave to a satellite that sends the signal to UHF transmitter sites across the United States (with a "spot" beam pointing at Hawaii). The UHF transmitters put out a signal that any MediaFLO phone in the coverage area can receive. Because MediaFLO is a subscription service, it uses the 3G network to authenticate phones and send the keys that unlock the TV channels–but the TV channels don’t reach you over a 3G connection.