USA Today on August 9 and The Wall Street Journal today write detailed articles about how more advertisements are on the way for cellular users, including ads for mobile television.
USA Today says, "When Fox Entertainmentn this summer released a spinoff of its "Prison Break" series to Sprint mobile phones, each two-minute episode was preceded by a 10-second ad for the youth-oriented Toyota Yaris."
The Wall Street Journal says Vodafone is testing several business models, "including offering free TV services to customers who agree to accept ads in addition to an ad-sponsored messaging service."
Difficult issue
This is a very sensitive issue for the wireless industry. Cellular operators would love to generate additional income from advertisements. However, they are afraid -- rightfully so -- of angering subscribers.
From a mobile TV perspective, I think more advertisements will be acceptable to consumers if they receive something in return, such as a lower price for programs or free service. In addition, in the United States we're used to seeing commercials on television programs (Tivo notwithstanding).
As I've noted before, commercials already are common in live 24-hour-a-day mobile TV shows, such as "Fox News," "ABC News Now" and "Bloomberg." Also, brief commercials are included before and after some individual video clips.
Agree completely. We worked with MSNBC.com on a beta trial with a free news service subsidized by mobile adverts, and found that consumers were fine with the ads provided that they were relevant when they got the service at a reduced rate in return. Check out the initial announcement at: http://www.windowsfordevices.com/news/NS6234575674.html or download the app for yourself at http://gomobile.msnbc.com
Posted by: Anne Baker | August 17, 2006 at 11:54 AM