Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Mobile TV - is it going to happen?

Is Mobile TV reaching a Tipping Point? A recent report suggests there is consumer demand for the service. The US-based report from Quickplay tell us

"Nearly half of respondents (44%) do not know if their mobile operator even
offers a mobile TV and video service and a third (33%) of those questioned
cited cost as the main barrier for not accessing mobile TV. The demand for
consumers to watch mobile TV is there, with 65 per cent of respondents stating
that they are willing to spend time watching an advert if it meant that the
mobile TV or video content they consume is free or discounted. On the other side
of the coin, if mobile TV and video were to be charged for, 22 per cent said
that they would prefer a pay-per-use business model and 13 per cent outlined a
preference for an additional monthly subscription that would deliver the
content without adverts."
My own feeling is that Mobile TV will be a bit like cameraphones. No-one ever really saw the need for a cameraphone - who would want to take photos on the go? But it's hard for many to imagine getting a phone without a camera these days. Mobile TV will be like that. At the point that it's just there - there's a button on the keypad that says 'TV' and you press it and the TV comes on, and it's free or bundled with your tarriff in some way, it will become a no-brainer.

And despite Mobile TV being a small market today, it is already generating some nice revenues for network operators. In Italy, mobile TV revenues are already Euro 65.9m vs their mobile music revenues which stand at just Euros 16.3m (full-track and ringtones).

I suspect the research report may be a little biased as it has been commissioned by a Mobile TV services provider and there were only 500 respondents which is not representative of a country of 300m+. Nevertheless, the findings are pretty much in keeping with other stuff I've read on the topic.

Interesting days for TV.