Reiter's Mobile TV Report

Telephia says most mobile TV watched in afternoon, early evening

The research firm Telephia says according to its "Mobile Video Diary Report" that 30 percent of consumers watch mobile television between 12:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. and 31 percent watch it between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. (see below), according to the company's press release in Cellular-News.

      U.S. MOBILE TV USAGE BASED ON DAYPART

Daypart	Percent (%)
6am - 9am	9%
9am - noon	9%
Noon - 4pm	30%
4pm - 8pm	31%
8pm - 11pm	9%
11pm - 2am	11%
2am - 6am	3%

Viewership drops significantly between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. when nine percent of consumers watch mobile TV.

"Mobile video users claim nearly one-fourth (22%) of their viewing happens while they are at home.  Similarly, 22 percent of their viewing is also done while they are commuting, 16 percent while they are shopping, and 14 percent while they are at work," Telephia says.

Olders viewers than expected

Although it's assumed that kids watch lots of mobile TV, Telephia says a surprising number of older people (I need to place "older" in quotes since it depends on your age perspective!).

Telephia's research shows 50 percent of mobile video viewers are 25 years old - 36 years old, compared to their 24 percent representation in total wireless population (see below).

  U.S. MOBILE VIDEO DEMOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN

	Current Mobile Video Users	All Mobile Subscribers
Age Group
18-24	23%	11%
25-36	50%	24%
37-55	24%	39%
56+	3%	26%
Gender
Male	70%	47%
Female	30%	53%
Race/Ethnicity
Caucasian	42%	74%
African American	16%	11%
Hispanic	27%	11%
Other	15%	4%

The male-female ratio "does resemble an early adoption profile," the research firm says.  About 70 percent of mobile video watchers are men compared to about a 50-50 ratio in the general population.

Ethnically diverse

Telephia says, "Mobile video user demographics show an ethnically diverse population, with 16 percent of mobile video users being African-American and 27 percent Hispanic, compared to 11 percent for each group for general mobile subscribers."

Caucausians, however, watch less mobile TV (42 percent) than their percentage of the general population (74 percent).

Europe ponders single standard, bandwidth for mobile TV

Europeans are discussing mobile television regional standards and spectrum allocations, according to articles in The Washington Post by Reuters and Forbes.

The Reuters article says Europe is ahead of the rest of the world in mobile TV.  It quotes Jorma Ollila, chairman of Nokia, saying, "Presently Europe has a few months' leadership over its rivals."

Hmmm.  Does Europe really have a lead over South Korea?  Maybe in DVB-H, that will be the standard in Europe, but not with the development other standards.

A year for European spectrum

The Europeans are looking at approving measures to standardize on a spectrum band (such as the L-band) and a mobile TV protocol for a single mobile TV effort.  Fabio Colassanti, an EU executive, says it will take a least a year to initiate the L-band procedures for mobile TV.

But that's a stopgap measure until 2012 when broadcast TV is moved from analog to digital and mobile TV can mobile into a European spectrum allocation.

Moco.News discusses Dubplate Drama mobile TV series

MoCo.News has an interesting article about the made-for-cellular mobile television episodes Dubplate Drama (see below).

Covering the Mobile Content World conference, MoCo.News says the four-minute episodes were made for  Sony PSP, 3 and Talk to Frank, a government drugs advisory service, and targeted at children 16 to 19 years old.

The theme for the 200,000 pound ($   ) project was a young female DJ who tries to succeed in London.  The Web site says:

"She's a normal girl from the ends with a big talent and ambition to match it.  Her first mission -- to get her dubplate cut.

"The second -- to get famous.  It's a long road.  She's gonna meet plenty of people who can help her make it.  And plenty of people who are gonna try and hold her back.

"When you start from the bottom there are problems are every turn.  Issues to sort out decisions to be made.  But it doesn't mean you can't make it.

"It's time to put yourself in Dionne's shoes.  Her fate is in your hands.  Get thinking.  Get voting.  It's Dubplate Drama."

At the end of each episode she has to decide among two moral choices.  Viewers are asked to vote for one or the other.

Producing for mobile TV

The executive producer for the series, Sam Conniff, said traditional movie-making methods and scripting don't work.  "You have to throw away the rules -- it’s a new medium and needs new methods."

The article says the technique is to employ "short bursts, quick easy hits, easy to get and leaves the user wanting more."  There was a lot of information available for viewers.

The article says, "3’s offering had full-length episodes for users with certain handsets, cut-down episodes, a mini sub-series using background characters from the show, behind the scenes footage, diaries of two cast members and related music and video downloads. In all, 73 pieces of content."

Pricing and viewer reaction

Here's what Gigaom says about the pricing and viewer response. (It's almost 3:30 a.m. and I don't have the stamina to summarize!).

"Conniff said there had been a good level of downloads across the country but the episodes, along with the branding of Talk to Frank, were also being spread by Bluetooth.

"3 recouped 10 percent of its investment through around 1,000 downloads per week (bear in mind the tiny cost of this production at £200,000).  Most content was free for users with add-ons between 25p - 50p.

"On the PSP, the series saw 5,000 downloads per week. Online votes for the series were around 70,000 each week.  On mobile, votes dropped from around 1,000 each week at the start of the series to 300-400 by the end."

Next moves

There will be a second series and auditions are now being held.

Irish cellular operator 3 licensed to test DVB-H for one year

The Irish cellular operator 3 has received a one-year license from the government to test the mobile television protocol DVB-H, according to the operator's press release.

Robert Finnegan, the managing director of 3, says in the press release, "3 Italy was first in Europe to launch broadcast TV over mobile, so as a Group we are already leading the development of this new technology.

"Ireland has a high take-up of digital TV services compared to many EU countries with 42% of all households using digital TV services.  DVB-H brings the benefits of Digital TV to mobile.

"Mobile TV is important to 3 and to the Irish market, as consumers demand more sophisticated mobile services."

In Italy, 3 has signed more than 140,000 mobile TV subscribers in six weeks, the press release says.

Laptop Magazine says Sprint Movies need improvements, but there's good

Laptop Magazine reviews watching Spiderman 2 on Sprint's new full-length movie downloand service, Sprint Movies, and reports the service has some good points although it's far from perfect.

The good news is:  "The resolution was better than expected, with crisp images, and audio that matched up exactly with the video.

"Doc Oc’s tentacle arms looked itty-bitty and a bit grainy but still menacing, and Spiderman’s acrobatic moves translated pretty well onto the small screen.

"We also liked that we could view the film pretty easily by chapter, which is probably what we’d do instead of watching the whole thing in one fell swoop."

However, watching the movie in segments isn't perfect.  The article says, "Sometimes it takes a while for chapters to load, so pausing, rewinding, and fast-forwarding can be more annoying than rewarding."

Bad news

There's a fair amount of bad news.  For example, the movie's viewing area shrinks to less than the size of the phone's screen.

That's bad.  Given the tiny size of the entire screen (about 1.8 inches on the Samsung SCH-a900 the magazine used), shrinking the movie to about one inch square doesn't make for a pleasant experience. 

I find the same problem when viewing Sprint's mobile television programs -- also on the a900 that I've tested.  The programs -- ABC News Now, Fox News, Discovery, TLC, etc. -- don't fill the entire screen.

Laptop Magazine also notes the LCD darkens (as is typical to conserve battery life) when the movie begins.

So, you have to adjust the settings to ensure a continuously bright screen when viewing the movie.

Buffering problems

In addition, the movie stopped and started several times, the article says.  Frankly, that's not surprising based on the vagaries of cellular networks

I've had good experiences with 1xEV-DO over Sprint's network in the Washington, D.C. area.  However, the mobile TV videos (I haven't tried Sprint Movies....yet) do indeed sometimes start and stop or suffer from pixelation.

The magazine reports that one time Spiderman 2  "disappeared and a yellow error message appeared in place of the viewing screen. 

"The screen came back and the film resumed once we pressed play, but, to our annoyance, the error message was viewable in the background for about the next half hour."

Typical problems

Also, it was difficult to watch some action scenes when the characters and the camera angles moved quickly.  Laptop Magazine notes "the data stream couldn’t quite keep up, and this resulted in some blocky, off-color scenes."

This also isn't unusual for mobile television.  It's common knowledge (among people in the wireless and broadcasting industries) that cellular phones have difficulties displaying rapid movements, among other problems (such as dark scenes and low contrast). 

Laptop Magazine found the battery lasted as long as they expected -- for about two thirds of Spiderman 2 with the screen at full brightness.  You are able to resume watching the movie where you left off.

In conclusion

Overall, the magazine gives Sprint Movies 2.5 stars out of five. 

However, the review doesn't trash the service and is hopeful, noting it's "worth keeping an eye on.

"The service may not be the best way to watch your favorite action flick but it could definitely fulfill sudden movie cravings while on the go.

"That is, assuming Sprint finds a way to use the phone's entire screen."

Suggestion for Sprint

I've got a suggestion for Sprint:  Provide a "tips" video or text for watching movies.

Offer Sprint Movie viewers the option to watch a bried video or read a text tutorial about to, for example, maintain the screen's brightness and use the PVR-like functions.

One of my pet peeves about cellular video services is the pathetic lack of customer education about how to use and best take advantage of them.  It's a subject I will continue to discuss.

The future

I also think cellular operators should seriously consider allowing subscribers to download an entire movie to watch on their phones at their leisure, such as the service now available from Apple iTunes. 

Yes, there are serious challenges, including a phone's available memory.  A 2GB memory card would suffice but they aren't cheap and many phones don't have a memory slot.

A few -- a very few -- phones are coming out with hard disk drives that could store movies.  Indeed, increased phone storage is one of the "major trends to watch" that consultants are so found of discussing!

Some phones offer a better viewing experience (for mobile TV and moview), such as those with larger, higher resolution screens.  But cellular operators have done a poor job of highlighting such phones.   

[Sent via TypePad wireless e-mail with RIM BlackBerry 8700g]

Mobile TV commercials versus time for watching

The mobile television industry is wrestling with the best business model (or models).

Should cellular subscribers pay a flat fee per month for unlimited mobile TV programs?  Should videos be sold individually?  Should programs have commercials in order to be offered for free?  Should programs have commercials and be offered on a subscription basis?

In the United States there are relatively few mobile TV commercials.  A few mobile TV programs have very brief commercials before the video clip. 

Do you have enough time?

If you watch live TV programs, such as Fox News, ABC News Now, Bloomberg, TLC and Discovery, over Sprint, you will see TV commercials that are part of the regular feed.

The problem with adding commercials to programs, though, is the time factor.  Most people will be watching mobile TV for a few minutes at a time. 

If you click on a program and have to watch a commercial or commercials for a minute -- when you only have three minutes to watch -- will you get frustrated?

Frustration factor

I find it a pain to wait for commercials to end when I want to see what's happening on live news, such as Fox (I really wish CNN offered a live mobile TV feed).  It will be very interesting to see whether people will accept commercials in return for not having to pay extra for specific programs.

I know surveys, such as those for broadband TV, indicate people prefer free with commercials to commercial free but paid.  But I also wonder whether the "frustration factor" will cause people to stop watching or watch less because of the time required to view commercials.

Any thoughts?

[Sent via TypePad wireless e-mail with RIM BlackBerry 8700g]

Telephia reports 3.7 million mobile TV subscribers; ABC, CNN top shows

The research firm Telephia reports there were 3.7 million mobile television subscribers in the United States with total quarterly revenues of $87 million, an increase in subscribers of 45 percent and an increase in revenues of 67 percent since the first quarter of 2006, according to the company's press release.

The most watched categories of mobile TV programs are news, weather and sports.  The statistics are based on the company's new "Mobile TV Diary Report" that is "the first and only measurement product in the industry that provides detailed research on mobile TV viewership, revenue performance, demographic profiles, behavioral measures, and advertising preferences" for streaming and video-on-demand programs, the press release says.

In the second quarter, the most watched mobile TV channels (see below), ranked from one to five, are:  ABC News, The Weather Channel, Fox Sports, ESPN and Fox News.  ABC News captured a 40 percent share of the audience, while the number ten most watched show, CNN, captured 12 percent.

Access Reach

Based on "access reach" --the percentage of people who watch relative to those who had access to the channel (see below) -- the top channels were CNN, ABC News, Fox News, AccuWeather and The Weather Channel.

Tamara Gaffney, director of product management at Telephia, says that based on the study, news and information is the "killer app" for mobile TV.

How about mobile TV "how-to," new service videos?

Mobile television subscribers get the short -- very short -- end of the stick when it comes to getting information about how to best take advantage of mobile TV and learn what's new.

Frankly, the customer education stinks.  Mobile TV in the United States is a new, esoteric, premium service that many consumers see as suffering from low quality LCDs, mediocre network performance and a mishmash of content.

I'm a fan of mobile TV (obviously) and I like it -- a lot -- right now, despite the problems. 

But it really could benefit from marketing that helps subscribers (1) learn what mobile TV is all about, (2) keep abreast of new channels and new programs within channels and (3) learn about interesting developments, such as when Sprint provided an Emmy Awards channel as well as Sprint and AirPlay offering an interactive application for the Emmy's.

Mobile TV about mobile TV

So, instead of cellular operators spending all their time obtaining new programs and even establishing their own content production ventures (such as Amp'd Mobile and Sprint), how about if they began spending just a little bit of time creating an ongoing mobile TV show about their existing mobile TV services?

Every week, say during the weekend or Monday morning, cellular operators could transmit one or two videos about the three subjects I just mentioned. 

The "Mobile TV Educational Channel" (no, I am not suggesting that as the name!) would include two "folders" or subchannels:  One featuring how-to tutorials and the second discussing what's new.

The how-to tutorial subchannel wouldn't have to be updated often, but the "what's new" channel should feature weekly updates. 

Leveraging the medium

That way, the operators would be leveraging the medium of mobile TV to educate their subscribers.

Customer education -- what a concept!

[Sent via TypePad wireless e-mail with RIM BlackBerry 8700g]

AT&T Broadband TV launches $19.95/month Internet TV from MobiTV

AT&T, Inc. has launched AT&T Broadband TV that provides some 20 Internet-streaming television channels (see left) in conjunction with the mobile TV aggregator MobiTV for $19.99 per month, according to the press release.

My down and dirty review:  Needs work to be successful.  Keep reading...

The broadband TV service is available to anyone who has a broadband connection.  However, unless you're an AT&T Yahoo! DSL customer you won't get Fox News.

An article in USA Today reports non-AT&T Yahoo customers won't get Fox News because of "rights issues" with Fox, according to a senior AT&T executive.

Available channels/restrictions

Regardless of whether you're able to receive Fox News, all the other channels available to subscribers include Bloomberg, Oxygen, History International, History Mobile, Comedy Time, Toonworld, Maxx Sports, the Weather Channel, A&E Mobile, V40, Chaos, Union Sports, Rewind 80s and 90s, here! and Crime & Investgation.

Several restrictions apply.  For example, you have to use Windows XP, Internet Explorer 6 or higher, Flash 8 and Windows Media Player 9.  Also, you're limited to watching AT&T Broadband TV on one computer.

I haven't checked to see if I can't watch the service on my desktop computer and my laptop (not simultaneously).  If I can't, that stinks.  I suspect a fair number of people might want to watch programs in their office on a desktop computer and on the road with their laptop.

Also, the service is only available in the United States.  That's also crummy, especially since AT&T is targeting people who travel a lot.

My view

I signed up for the 14-day free trial.  I won't pay for the service -- not as it's offered today.  Note:  You have to provide credit card details for the trial, and I assume that will keep some people from testing it.

Why don't I like it?  The channel selection isn't good enough for the price.  As a non-AT&T Yahoo! subscriber I can't get Fox News, and live news is important to me (although I'm definitely not a fan of Fox's "fair and balanced" right wing slant).

I believe live news will be important to lots of people.  Sprint TV's basic service offers live news from Fox News, ABC News Now, Bloomberg, C-SPAN and C-SPAN2.  I think Sprint is still the only cellular operator that offers live programs

Dearth of news

Unfortunately, there's a dearth of live news programs on cellular phones.  There are a variety of news clips from NBC News, and you can pay extra for different news clips from My Local TV, CNNtoGO and GoTV

However, you can't get live news broadcasts from CNN or MSNBC, for example. 

As I've written before, I'd love to be able to watch live foreign news programs, from CNN Europe, CNN Asia and the BBC.  I'd be willing to pay for these channels, whether they're on cable TV, cellular or Internet broadband.

I assume, alas, that I represent an audience that's too small to be economical.  But I thought the World of the Internet was all about narrowcasting!

More content issues

AT&T Broadband TV offers a number of streaming channels that aren't offered on U.S. cellular networks (at least I haven't seen them), such as Oxygen, the Military History Channel, here! and Biography Mobile.

I clicked on every channel and wasn't able to get three.  Fox Sports isn't available unless you're a paid subscriber.  When I clicked multiple times on the History International and here! (a gay-oriented channel), the AT&T media player said, "Coming Soon."

To maintain spectrum efficiency, AT&T Broadband TV requires that you click on a message every 30 minutes to continue watching.  I understand the reasoning, but if you've got one window open on your computer for TV and are just listening as you're working, there's a good chance you're not going to see that message that pops up.

Testing 1xEV-DO

As a test, I tried AT&T Broadband TV with my Verizon Wireless 1xEV-DO card (provided to me for a few months by Qualcomm) and the streaming worked pretty well. 

I had several dozen Web pages (as tabs) in about four Firefox windows as I worked and used AT&T Broadband TV.

There was some jerkiness, but overall, it worked much better than I expected.  Not perfect, but watchable.  Of course, using a landline broadband connection should be just fine.

To be fair

I watched AT&T Broadband TV the first day it was commercially available, so perhaps the "Coming Soon" will be rectified "soon."

Also, the press release says more channels will be coming.

So, I don't think AT&T Broadband TV is worth the money now, but it could be with a much broader selection of channels and the ability to watch shows on your desktop and laptop computers.

(For additional information, check out the article by ars technica).

Sprint Power Vision launches free sports, entertainment mobile TV channel

Sprint today announced it has launched "Sprint Power Vision," a new, free "first made-for-mobile sports and entertainment video programming network," according to the press release.

Although the official launch was today, the service has been on my Sprint phones for several days.  You open the Media Player, click on "Sprint TV" and at the top of the listings is "Sprint Power Vision" as channel 35 (on my Samsung SCH-a920).

You can also download the Java application from mSpot by sending an SMS "Power" to 7777.

So far, the channel has an "Entertainment Desk" and a "Sports Desk."  The Entertainment Desk features videos on celebrities, fashion and gossip.  The Sport Desk features videos on the NFL, the U.S. Open and sports news.

More to come

Currently, Sprint Power Vision is heavy on sports, with less on entertainment.  During the next several weeks Sprint will add more programs, including fantasy football, games and music.

The free channel will be updated several times a day, seven days a week.  The headquarters is at the "Sprint Power View desk" in New York in conjunction with IMG Media.

In addition, "15 mobile camera crews will file on-location stories from venues and events from major markets in the United States," Sprint's press release says.

Operators as producers

Sprint appears to be one more cellular operator that's getting more involved in the development of specialized made-for-cellular channels. 

Amp'd Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator via Sprint, and several overseas cellular operators also are establishing mobile TV groups to develop specialized programs.