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Mobisodes, schmobisodes - mobile TV - why watch?

Robin Hague

If this is the tip to mobile TV use, there isn’t much of a spear

Mobile TV has taken some seemingly momentous steps forward over the past week, but the third screen still faces some demanding challenges, before its tiny display can stake a claim as a truly popular broadcasting vehicle.

There is good news for mobile TV, some bad news and a host of possibilities, expensive possibilities.

First, some good news, in the US at least. As reported on FreebandTVNews, the catchily named Advanced Television Systems Committee has adopted a mobile digital television broadcast standard, provoking the Open Mobile Video Coalition to bravely declare it is “all systems go” for a new era of television on mobile devices.

US providers are reportedly lining up to provide all types of content and device manufacturers are getting ready to roll too.

There was more positive news for the tiniest TVs. Research and Markets’ report on the top ten non-voice services for mobile operators, featured mobile TV services from 3 in the UK and 3 Italy, as well as mobile broadband from Sprint Nextel in the US. This is obviously important for mobile operators hungry to boost their non-voice ARPUs.

However, another side to the mobile TV story somewhat clouds the picture. The broadcasting ratings agency Nielsen produces quarterly figures for the consumption of media across homes in the US.

Predictably, old-school, rooted to the sofa, watching TV at home, still rules the roost, with the average American viewing more than 140 hours per month in Q2 2009. This was actually down by 12 hours on the first quarter, but even the most Dorito-addicted US viewer still enjoys a good Spring and early Summer and viewing figures always drop during this period, before rising during the Fall. In fact, quarter-on-quarter home TV watching increased by two hours a month.

During the same time, Nielsen reckoned more than 15-million Americans watched video on their mobiles. While this represents a whopping 70 percent increase on the same time last year, whopping increases are deceptively easy when the initial numbers are so small.

Remember, at the end of last year, there were 271-million mobile handsets in American hands, or handbags. That’s nearly 9 cellphones for every 10 people in the US, so just an 18th watched video on their mobiles, let alone mobile TV.

Furthermore, the Nielsen figures show they spent an average 3.15 hours watching video on their mobiles per month, down from 3.37 hours the quarter before and 3.42 in Q4 2008. And that isn’t anything to do with the weather.

Q3 figures aren’t in yet, but year-on-year, Nielsen reports a stark 10 percent drop in mobile video watching in the US.

You might say, what about Japan and South Korea? What about Europe’s mobile users?

In Japan and South Korea, mobile TV is fully developed, the number of users doubling to 32 percent of all cellphone users by this Summer, with consumers demanding mobile TV access as a key factor in their device purchasing decisions and the Beijing Olympics boosted mobile TV consumption in China.

No matter which way you look it at it, these three markets alone constitute more than 75 percent of worldwide mobile TV consumption and therein lies the problem.

In Europe, just eight percent of mobile users watch TV on their devices. They certainly do have iPhones but their eyes are not glued to their devices, for TV at least.

So why the slouching towards mobile TV Mecca? Despite horror stories regarding bills for tens of thousands of Euros for watching mobile TV while roaming, price is not really an issue.

Most European and US mobile operators provide seemingly quite reasonable price plans and cost is clearly no obstacle to Asia’s avid mobile TV viewers.

The real point is pointlessness. There isn’t yet much of a reason to watch TV on a mobile. The content is not compelling and not in any real way different from TV at home or on the PC or laptop.

An obvious contender for mobile TV is sports, but try watching soccer, rugby, cricket, baseball or tennis highlights on a cellphone. It is not excellent. First and foremost, mobile using sports fans on the move want results and they can get them from any number of excellent mobile Internet providers.

Drama and comedy has been another less than fully successful mobile TV venture. Everyone loves the idea of a mobisode because it’s such a pleasing, clever nickname you think it would have to work. However, those pesky consumers don’t think so. With a few honourable exceptions, most drama and comedy providers are simply pushing out cut-down versions of their full TV episodes.

News bulletins do work and represent by far the majority of mobile TV services available in Europe. News works, but one service does not a success make.

There are solutions out there.

Modelling the Asian experience won’t completely work. There are major differences between Asian, European and US consumption of electronics, particularly mobile use. For instance, urban planning in Asia means time-to-work commutes can be exhaustively long, encouraging more mobile TV usage, easily accessed from superior 3G and WiFi networks.

However, Asian mobile TV is much more interactive than its European and US equivalents, putting the user at the centre of a much richer experience than watching a miniature version of 24. Mobile TV viewing in Asia is more fun.

Making the pictures work on mobile is the important answer. Nintendo and Sony sensibly work-up different, less rich content for their portable devices than their in-home technology. This is critical for when cellphones are used in less than perfect lighting environments, such as being passed around in bars or watched on public transport.

At least mobile devices, driven by Internet use and yes, TV viewing, are getting bigger, with more eye-friendly screens, although Samsung says its new single-chip can make for smaller devices.

Special mobile versions of TV and film, or wholly mobile-specified entertainments are a tall order. They add yet more cost to already expensive production, and as we have seen, the demand isn’t yet anywhere near on the way to full realisation outside of Asia.

Then there’s user generated content. Will there be enough to kick-start a mobile TV revolution? Probably not. Watching people injure or embarrass themselves sadly doesn’t represent much of a revenue stream.

If mobile TV is to, pardon the pun, go over the top and start to really work the balance sheets of mobile service providers, specialised mobile programming will have to happen.

Who will make the content? If they’re serious about mobile television, Telcos and other service providers may have to start becoming content producers or sponsors, or existing TV companies may have to commit resources to the third screen and mobile TV charges would almost certainly have to go up. Expect a lot of product placement.

However, as long as the product’s good, no-one regrets buying quality. When it turns up.

© FreebandTVNews

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