The close synergy between a satellite system and terrestrial mobile cellular networks for cost-efficient content delivery to mobile users lies at the core of the satellite digital multimedia broadcasting system concept. Having already rich research and design work behind it, much of which has been carried out in the framework of European R&D projects, the system has recently seen the end of its first field trials, which relied on an experimental platform representing the future operational system. The article reports the outcomes of these trials that confirmed the technical feasibility of the system concept and provided valuable hints for the subsequent system design stages.