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Mobile TV – Hit and Miss

An interesting survey from QuickPlay Media has revealed that while 41% of consumers have watched TV or video on their phones, 44% do not even know if their operator offers mobile TV.

So pretty impressive penetration rates and also a shocking lack of awareness.

So which is it – is mobile TV a Hit or a Miss?

To be honest for me mobile TV is definitely a miss – I wouldn’t ever want to watch twenty minutes of Eastenders (for our non-UK readers – a dodgy London based soap opera that charts the different levels of misery that our nation’s capital drives people to) while stuck in my cattle-truck of a commuter train. Mobile video on the other hand – a round up of last night’s The Apprentice, or a summary of the game from Euro 2008 – that’s a winner. But do people really need a mobile for that? With the internet (and mobile internet) and iPods etc, do I need to subscribe to mobile video?

From the survey though, it seems that many people are keen to watch. Other stats include:

– 33% have watched for upto 60 minutes or longer

– 65% said they’d be willing to watch ads if it meant a free or discounted service

The press release doesn’t say how many people were surveyed, but it does say that the UK results closely matched those for the US.

6 COMMENTS

  1. Nice distinction between 'Mobile TV' and 'Video Podcast'.

    Everyone understands the attraction of 5-minute snippets, that you can snack on at leisure, that are managed & sideloaded via a PC.

    You probably want to watch in commuting time, which puts you in absolutely the worst scenario for real-time download/stream of video. In a small metal can, surrounded by large bags of water (read: fellow commuters), all moving along narrow routes, sometimes underground. All trying to access the same network at once. Competing with voice & data traffic.

    Capacity & coverage nightmare for MNO's. Crap, frustrating experience for users.

    No-one wants mobile TV except mobile TV hardware and content vendors. Believe their 'Surveys' at your peril….

  2. “but it does say that the UK results closely matched those for the US.”

    Really? Are you saying 41% of consumers in the US have watched video or TV on their phones? That is going to be difficult with less then 20% of the handsets data enabled in the US and less then 8% of those actually utilizing the data plans for anything outside of email.

    Where do they get these figures from? Who paid for this survey? They obviously bought these results…

  3. Nice insight Giff.

    I believe you will find that the 'survey' was paid for by Quickplay media, who incidentally “is the leading provider of media management and distribution solutions for mobile TV and video services.”

    Impartial? hmmmmmm…..

    Other point: 41% have 'watched Tv or Video on their phone' but only 33% have 'watched for up to 60 minutes or longer'. Note the 'up to', which cunningly includes people who accidentally hit the TV app and 'watched' for 5 seconds, but gives the impression that 60 minutes is more the norm. So which is it? 33 or 41%? can't be both….

    Note to PR hacks: don't send this sort of stuff to SMSTN unless you want it peeled, diced and exposed for the patent dog's cobblers that it is.

    /m

  4. Nice insight Giff.

    I believe you will find that the 'survey' was paid for by Quickplay media, who incidentally “is the leading provider of media management and distribution solutions for mobile TV and video services.”

    Impartial? hmmmmmm…..

    Other point: 41% have 'watched Tv or Video on their phone' but only 33% have 'watched for up to 60 minutes or longer'. Note the 'up to', which cunningly includes people who accidentally hit the TV app and 'watched' for 5 seconds, but gives the impression that 60 minutes is more the norm. So which is it? 33 or 41%? can't be both….

    Note to PR hacks: don't send this sort of stuff to SMSTN unless you want it peeled, diced and exposed for the patent dog's cobblers that it is.

    /m

  5. “but it does say that the UK results closely matched those for the US.”

    Really? Are you saying 41% of consumers in the US have watched video or TV on their phones? That is going to be difficult with less then 20% of the handsets data enabled in the US and less then 8% of those actually utilizing the data plans for anything outside of email.

    Where do they get these figures from? Who paid for this survey? They obviously bought these results…

  6. Nice insight Giff.

    I believe you will find that the 'survey' was paid for by Quickplay media, who incidentally “is the leading provider of media management and distribution solutions for mobile TV and video services.”

    Impartial? hmmmmmm…..

    Other point: 41% have 'watched Tv or Video on their phone' but only 33% have 'watched for up to 60 minutes or longer'. Note the 'up to', which cunningly includes people who accidentally hit the TV app and 'watched' for 5 seconds, but gives the impression that 60 minutes is more the norm. So which is it? 33 or 41%? can't be both….

    Note to PR hacks: don't send this sort of stuff to SMSTN unless you want it peeled, diced and exposed for the patent dog's cobblers that it is.

    /m

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