Ad-subsidized mobile video: Where is it?

For close to a decade, the wireless industry has hyped itself as the next great medium for advertising. All the elements are there for killer ad campaigns: location information, precise monitoring and-perhaps most importantly-direct access to consumers' most personal device.

So why is mobile advertising still in its infancy?

The question is especially troubling when it's applied to mobile video and mobile TV. After all, primetime TV ads generate millions in advertising dollars, and advertisers have long subsidized major TV networks including NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox. And, despite the rise of paid-for cable TV, there are still millions of Americans who get free (meaning, ad-subsidized) TV through over-the-air broadcasts from these networks.

Will the same ever be true for mobile?

First, let's look at some facts about the mobile video market:

• According to comScore, There are mobile than 10 million active mobile video consumers in the United States.
• There are a variety of mobile video offerings in the market. Some cost upwards of $30 per month, while others are free.
  
• There are a variety of types of mobile video. Some videos are available on demand, some are broadcast to handsets, some travel through carriers' networks and some arrive via dedicated mobile TV networks.
  
• Marketers are currently advertising over mobile video [1], but it seems they aren't spending much at all.

So where is the market heading? We've collected the leading players in the mobile video and TV market to talk about the state of the industry, and where they see it going. Specifically, we asked them whether advertising can subsidize the cost of such offerings, thereby making it free to end users-and if so, when?

See the answers from: Qualcomm [2] MobiTV [3] ROK Entertainment [4] GoTV [5] OMVC [6] Or go straight to the conclusion [7]

[2]