[opendtv] Opinion: Mobile TV's New Free Market Economy
- From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: OpenDTV Mail List <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2009 09:12:35 -0400
http://www.tvnewsday.com/articles/2009/03/13/daily.9/
JESSELL AT LARGE
Mobile TV's New Free Market Economy
By Harry A. Jessell
TVNEWSDAY, Mar 13 2009, 3:37 PM ET
I had the privilege last month of speaking to the communications
class of Dr. Mara Einstein at New York University about the state of
the TV station business. It was mostly a sad tale of falling ratings
and revenue, but I did try to identify some of the opportunities that
I believe will sustain the business for at least the next decade or
so.
I can't gauge what the undergraduates leaned from me, but I know what
I learned from them: mobile is broadcasters' best (last?) chance to
recapture young viewers.
Maybe this is a reflection of me and my presentation skills, but
mobile was the only topic that seemed to interest them. None seemed
to share my (or Dr. Einstein's) fascination with retransmission
consent, if you can believe that.
Mobile got some good back-and-forth going. The undergrads were
interested in how it worked and seemed to like to idea of being able
to tune into their favorite broadcast TV shows on their cell phones
and other portable devices. As you should know, those devices are
where they live - phoning, texting, listening to music and lord knows
what else.
And they particularly liked (and were somewhat surprised) by the
notion that the service would be free. So far, most mobile video
offerings are pay. For instance, MediaFlo offers 12-15 channels,
including CBS, NBC and Fox, and several top cable networks for $15
per month. MobiTV's array of primetime broadcast and cable
programming adds $10 to the monthly budget.
Free, it turns out, is a powerful force in the marketplace.
My sense of the informal NYU focus group is reinforced this week by a
new consumer survey commissioned by QuickPlay Media, a Toronto-based
provider of mobile TV and video services.
According to a survey of 1,000 mobile users between 18 and 25, the
No. 1 reason the respondents have shunned mobile TV is the perceived
cost, and 51 percent said they would be willing to accept advertising
if they got to watch for free.
The study has a couple of other interesting findings. A quarter of
mobile TV users say they watch between daily activities, 16 percent
while in transit (on a bus, for instance) and 11 percent while
waiting in line.
For me, the most surprising finding is that 30 percent of mobile TV
users are watching while at home. That's up from 11 percent last year
and suggests that mobile TV might be better thought of as personal
TV. You might be watching on the bus or you might be watching under
the covers after bedtime.
This is all good news for the broadcasters who are moving ahead with
plans to simulcast their regular broadcast signals using a hunk of
their DTV spectrum and the transmission standard developed by the
industry's Open Mobile Video Coalition and the ATSC.
Another study we linked to this week says the broadcasters' planned
free, ad-supported mobile TV service may be just what the entire
mobile TV business has been waiting for.
NSR, a Boston-based research firm, says the number of TV-enabled
phones will grow to more than 32 million by 2013 thanks in large part
to the availability of the broadcasters' service. "Free-to-air is the
clear answer to jumpstart demand," it says.
So broadcasters shouldn't allow this rotten economy to discourage or
slow their mobile ambitions.
There is a lot to do, of course. Broadcasters must equip their
stations to air mobile signals, acquire (or confirm they have) the
mobile rights to network programming, put in place a good system for
measuring mobile viewership and convince cell phones manufacturers to
install chips that can receive their mobile signals.
None of that is going to be easy. I've got a hunch the negotiations
with the networks are going to be tough. The networks are not going
to give anything away.
But broadcasters can proceed with confidence.
In the coming mobile TV marketplace, the broadcast offering will be
free - and there is always a place for free.
Harry A. Jessell is editor of TVNewsday. You can contact him at
hajessell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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