We live in an event-driven society, so it makes sense that mobile TV has emerged as an event-driven medium. Virtually every mobile programming success story hinges on a live, can't-miss spectacle: This week, digital broadcast service provider MobiTV announced [1] that no fewer than five of its channels (ABC News NOW, Fox News, CNBC, MSNBC and CSPAN, respectively) would air live coverage of President Barack Obama's Tuesday inauguration. MobiTV anticipated significant viewership totals based on previous spikes throughout the 2008 presidential campaign: During the first presidential debate on Sept. 26, MobiTV enjoyed a 64 percent increase over the average daily viewing on its mobile news channels, while the Oct. 2 vice presidential debate saw a 102 percent increase over average daily totals and the third presidential debate on Oct. 15 experienced a 111 percent increase over the norm. Most impressive of all, on Nov. 4 MobiTV experienced a 373 percent increase in election night viewing minutes compared to the daily average. (As of this writing, MobiTV has not yet reported official inauguration viewing data.)
Perhaps no programming category has proven more consistently successful on mobile than sports, and the biggest, grandest sporting event of them all, the Super Bowl, is now just a little more than a week away. With the Pittsburgh Steelers poised to square off against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, Feb. 1, Sprint announced [2] a series of Super Bowl XLIII-themed mobile content efforts in conjunction with its exclusive NFL Mobile Live application. Sprint will introduce a centralized Super Bowl XLIII webpage formatted expressly for mobile handsets--in addition to season recaps for both the Steelers and the Cards as well as video highlights and analyst commentary, NFL Mobile Live will feature a live stream of the NFL Network's cable broadcast, promising all the official Super Bowl XLIII press conferences along with player and coach interviews and breaking news. Clearly there is rabid demand for pro football content on mobile: According to Sprint, the NFL Mobile Live app reached the 1 million download milestone faster than any other application in the carrier's history. Sprint adds that NFL Mobile Live app also set its single-day record for downloads on Sept. 7, the first Sunday of this year's NFL campaign. And in November, Sprint became the first U.S. mobile operator to offer live NFL game telecasts when it began simulcasting the NFL Network's annual eight-game primetime schedule.
But with the presidential inauguration now history and the long NFL off-season dead ahead, where does mobile TV turn for its next shot in the arm? More importantly, is an event-driven viewer culture enough to sustain the mobile TV business model? Live news and sports realize the inherent promise of the mobile TV format--viewers must no longer sit down in front of their television set or PC screen to witness must-see programming as it unfolds. However, that kind of can't-miss urgency is absent from standard network fare like sitcoms, dramas and reality programs--which still constitute the majority of what the mobile platform offers. When the content that best illustrates a medium's potential is also the content in shortest supply, that's a serious challenge, and it explains why so few subscribers are interested in paying a monthly premium to keep their mobile TV service active. It goes without saying that Super Bowls and U.S. presidential campaigns don't come around every day, but for mobile TV to survive, providers must somehow devise a programming formula that guarantees viewers come around every day regardless. Easier said than done, of course, but we're living in an age when even the Arizona Cardinals can earn a Super Bowl berth--definitive proof that miracles do indeed happen. -Jason [3]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/five-mobitv-channels-cover-inauguration-day/2009-01-20
[2] http://www.fiercemobilecontent.com/story/sprint-kicks-super-bowl-xliii-mobile-coverage/2009-01-22
[3] mailto:jankeny@fiercemarkets.com