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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 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 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
Comments
Posted by Mike1999 | January 23, 2009 - 12:19am
Jason:
I agree with most of your points with respect to live events driving mobile TV.
However, I submit to you two factors critical to driving consumer adoption: content and cost.
The key behind successfully addressing these factors is the ability to tap into the existing terrestrial broadcast ecosystem.
Premium and subscription mobile TV services will eventually be successfully introduced at the right time when consumers, infrastructure and content are all ready. Jason, in the meantime, free Mobile TV services offer a compelling approach to building a global mobile TV audience.
Jason, the technology advancements that have been made to enable delivery of free mobile TV are game-changing.
These advancements allow for: high sensitivity reception to enable consumers to have a positive viewing experience; low power consumption to enable consumers to view continuous mobile TV for hours at a time; mobility to allow for stable picture when walking around or riding in a car, bus or high-speed train, at speeds up to 430kph; and small footprint implementation to enable TV delivery in a handset of any shape and size
Until now, operators interested in deploying mobile TV have faced high infrastructure costs for deployment of towers and repeaters, high spectrum costs for securing broadcast frequency, and high content costs for development, retooling, or licensing of content.
Free mobile TV is the first technology that will allows operators to make forays into TV delivery on a mobile tv phone, without making these significant investments. This can allow operators to learn more about consumer behavior in their specific market, assess marketing strategies, explore business models and enhance their handset portfolio, all without significant overhead.
Additionally, it is a model that allows for collaboration with broadcasters, like the NFL example you cite, which may ultimately allow for some creative advertising models or options for interactive content development. In developing infrastructure for mobile TV broadcasts, operators put themselves at odds with local broadcasters. Given that consumer preference is for the wealth of content already being delivered on local channels, operators may benefit from a mobile TV delivery vehicle that preserves the broadcaster relationship.
Jason, please keep up the great work -- I enjoy reading commentary involving the mobile TV vertical.
Posted by Anonymous | February 5, 2009 - 11:40pm
I want to make a comment on mobile tv. I just subscribe to alltel mobile tv. I have been in a doctor office waiting to see the doctor. That was a wise choice I made. I had a lot people want to know how can they subscribe. I told them to check with their subscriber. I wanted to say whoever came up with the idea, that was wonderful idea.
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