Early Movers in Mobile TV are Poised to Capture a Burgeoning Market

Traditional television has had a glorious run. For decades, broadcasters and content providers have extracted profit from this media conduit to the mass market by offering a growing array of channels and scheduled programming on ever-bigger screens.

However, this paradigm is now being challenged by the Internet, ever-growing data rates on both wireline and wireless networks, as well as the proliferation of content formats and devices. End users, meanwhile, have become more demanding and fragmented, splitting their precious time among myriad media choices, channels and platforms while younger viewers move beyond the TV content consumed by their parents’ generation. As a result, traditional TV is experiencing significant erosion of viewers and advertising revenues.
The marriage of the mobile and broadcast worlds has given rise to mobile TV — enabling viewers to access their favorite programs however, wherever and whenever they want. While there are clear opportunities for service providers associated with this trend, it represents unfamiliar territory for many in the communications industry. To succeed in this space, operators will be challenged with:
• Delivering a compelling end-user experience (for example, graphically pleasing, easy to use and interactive)
• Providing a wide selection of attractive handsets and devices
• Offering a broad range of appealing content
• Establishing an appropriate business model for the target market and culture
• Offering transparent tariff plans
• Developing effective go-to-market strategies
• Choosing the right underlying technologies
• Complying with regulatory environments (for example, spectrum availability)
A Growing Opportunity
According to ABI Research, the number of mobile TV subscribers worldwide will grow from 11 million in 2006 to 462 million in 2012, representing a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 85%. But cashing in on this growth will require service providers to make significant changes to existing network infrastructures and business models.
The migration away from analog TV will free spectrum to enable service providers to build dedicated broadcast networks. The acceleration of mobile broadcast networks (such as DVB-H and MediaFlo), the 4G network adoption (LTE/WiMAX (News - Alert)) and the proliferation of user-friendly handsets and other portable multimedia devices will increase the advantage gained by the early movers in this space.
Differentiation from voice-centric plans is just the beginning of the journey. Service providers are at a pivotal point to leverage the merging broadcast and telecom worlds. This fusion will empower new levels of converged and blended services, for example seamless multi-screen experience and interactive targeted advertisements, allowing users to have anytime/anywhere access to the content they crave, while enabling service providers to implement innovative business models and tap into new revenue streams.
A close look at some of the trendsetters in mobile TV services should provide inspiration and encouragement to service providers considering moving into this space.

Nielsen Finds Online, Mobile Reap Tiny Shares Of '3 Screen' Video

The proliferation of time-shifting technologies and new "screens" for watching video, means Americans are watching more video programming than ever before, but they're still watching it primarily on a traditional video programming platform: the television set. That's the conclusion of a new "three screen" report from Madison Avenue's arbiter of TV audience estimates, the Nielsen Co. The report, which was released Monday as part of Nielsen's overall push into so-called "A2/M2" (anytime/anywhere) video audience measurement, does find that traditional in-home TV viewing has been losing share - albeit modestly - to newer video screen platforms, but that the biggest gainer is not Internet video or even video on the mobile Web, but technologies that enable consumers to watch traditional TV on a time-shifted basis.

While traditional linear TV's share of time spent watching video in the U.S. declined 0.29% between the third quarter of 2008 and the second quarter of 2008 (the first for which Nielsen is reporting time spent watching video across all three screens), it still dominates the video medium with 91.83% of all minutes spent watching video during the third quarter.

The biggest gainer was viewing via time-shifted devices such as DVRs and video-on-demand, which rose 5.25% to a 4.21% share of all video minutes viewed during the third quarter.

While Internet video and mobile Web video also are growing, they still account for only a fraction of the total video marketplace, as defined by Nielsen. That's important, because Nielsen's estimates are still more or less the proxy for Madison Avenue's TV advertising budgets.

Watching video on the Internet rose 12.5% to 2.52%, while watching video on a mobile phone jumped 11.4% to 2.33% of all video programming viewed during the third quarter of 2008.

The TV and Internet estimates are calculated using Nielsen's national TV and Internet panels, which are measured electronically and reported on a regular basis. The mobile phone figures are collected by Nielsen via a quarterly survey and give a firsthand look at how early adopters report their usage of mobile video.

The paltry online video share estimates are consistent with data presented last month by Black Arrow's Larry Kramer at the OMMA Video conference in Los Angeles. Kramer said the current TV usage landscape is still dominated by linear TV viewing--about 389 billion hours per year in 2008, compared with only 800 million viewing hours for online video. By 2010, he projected, linear TV viewing will decline to 342 billion viewing annual viewing hours, while online video will expand to 14 billion.

One step closer to mobile TV

This year’s TelcoTV conference has service providers looking beyond the living room. The show, typically centered on IPTV and broadband, is tackling the bigger picture of how the Internet, over-the-top video, long-tail content and, especially, mobile devices are changing how television is delivered.

The Open Mobile Video Coalition demonstrated this week that one industry segment, local broadcasters, already is changing how they deliver TV. Two local Chicago broadcasters, ION Media Networks and Fox Television, held successful mobile digital TV demonstrations in the downtown market, confirming that they can deliver a number of local and live broadcasts over a variety of mobile devices and phones. The service, which uses a draft of the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) mobile TV standard, could give other mobile TV providers a run for their money.

Mobile TV Gains Momentum

Mobile digital TV appears to be a step closer after two Chicago stations conducted a test that successfully streamed live TV to handheld devices. Local TV stations are pushing for a standard to be developed to facilitate their ability to deliver live news and other local programming.

In addition to Chicago, where Ion Media Networks' local station was involved along with the local Fox owned-and-operated outlet, a second successful test took place in Denver using an Ion station.

Sprint, Verizon and other carriers deliver live TV, but this initiative would allow local broadcasters to deliver to the small screens over the air.

Mobile TV Tees Up for Election Day

If you’re not near a TV today, mobile TV services are one alternative to getting your Election Day fix.

Qualcomm’s MediaFLO USA service will be delivering Election Day coverage all day from NBC, CBS, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, CNN and MTV News. There also promises to be Election Day versions of the Colbert Report and the Daily Show from Comedy Central.

Both Verizon Wireless and AT&T offer MediaFLO services in the United States.

MobiTV also offers programming tomorrow on CNBC, MSNBC, ABC News NOW, C-Span and Fox News. In the United States, MobiTV, which boasts more than 4 million subscribers on more than 350 handsets, is carried by Alltel, AT&T and Sprint.

MobiTV saw some big upticks during the debates leading up to the big day. The first Presidential debate on Sept. 26 saw a 64% increase over the average daily viewing on mobile news channels that carried the debates on MobiTV. The Oct. 2 Vice Presidential debate drew a 102% increase over the average, and the Oct. 7 Presidential debate prompted an 84% increase over the average. The final Presidential debate produced a 111% increase over the average.

Mobile TV service providers say people are not necessary out of their homes when they’re watching mobile TV services. Sometimes they’re tuning in because someone else has commandeered the TV set.

Will mobile phones kill the TV station?

That’s a question one can’t help but ask Patrick Parodi, CMO of mobile advertising solutions provider, Amobee. As chairman and global board director of the Mobile Entertainment
Forum , Parodi loves to play the role of evangelist, telling mobile operators to turn into a media company. In an interview with ET, the messiah of mobile entertainment and marketing speaks at length on how mobile operators are probably close to missing the bus, the lessons they could learn from the commoditisation of internet service providers (ISPs). And, of course, the fate of the TV station.


Mobile marketing is largely tactical or promotion-led , and is rarely part of a long-term strategy. Is the mobile useful only as a shortterm marketing tool?


To a great extent, mobile marketing is being used as a direct marketing tool for lead generation and as a push model. That’s going to change. We are going to see mobile more as a media option where the user becomes the centre of the medium. That’s largely happening because of the advancement in handsets like the iPhone, or what others like Nokia, HTC and Google’s Android platform are doing. From our perspective, the operator is in the centre of the wireless ecosystem. But they have a big job ahead in accelerating their networks to become media companies.

Mobile TV To Be Biggest Ad Revenue Generator By 2010: Report

Jupiner predicts that spending on mobile TV advertising will grow from $335 million in 2008 to more than $2.5 billion in 2013. Total annual global spending on mobile advertising will hit $1.3 billion in 2008, rising to $7.6 billion by 2013. China and the Far East will remain the largest regional market for mobile advertising, because it includes the massive population of China and the advanced mobile markets of Japan and South Korea.

New Satellite Will Supply TV To Cell Phones

The satellite is designed to provide 10 to 15 live television stations for mobile phones in the future. It is powerful enough to not require a dish to receive broadcast.

3 takes your mobile phone to the cinema

3 is one of the most innovative mobile phone companies in the world. The Vizux iWear goggles are exclusively available in 3 stores this week, using pocket-sized video glasses to “make the big screen as portable as your mobile”. Tiny high-tech displays inside the glasses create a virtual screen that’s the equivalent of watching a 62-inch plasma TV.

Sony Films headed to Mobile Phones

LAS VEGAS (Hollywood Reporter) - Sony Pictures Television is looking to launch the first movie network on mobile phone in the United States. The studio has signed a deal with AT&T and MediaFLO USA to launch the linear channel as one of two exclusive channels coming to the newly announced AT&T Mobile TV with FLO service in May.

AT&T Set to Offer Qualcomm Service To Broadcast Live Video to Cellphones

AT&T Inc. in May plans to begin offering a long-awaited mobile-TV service, using a Qualcomm Inc. network called MediaFlo that broadcasts live video to cellphones.

EU backs Nokia standard for mobile TV

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission moved to simplify the nascent mobile phone TV sector by adopting a standard backed by Finland's Nokia. The Commission said setting the Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld (DVB-H) as the preferred European Union standard would give the industry a boost.