Reiter's Mobile TV Report

Qualcomm's FLO TV, Rentrak develop mobile TV viewship data service

Qualcomm, developer of its FLO TV mobile television service has teamed with Rentrak to create mobile TV’s “first comprehensive viewership and advertising impression reporting,” according to the press release.

FLO TV will use this new service measurement service, Rentrak’s TV Essentials, to provide information to content providers and potential and existing mobile TV advertisers.  The two companies said they would start offering the data later this year.

There’s no doubt that advertisers require detailed viewer information to consider purchasing commercials.  Since the beginning of mobile TV, advertisers have being saying that viewership data is crucial to deciding whether and how to advertise.

Michael Jackson memorial service generates huge viewership for FLO TV, GoTV

Michael Jackson’s memorial service on Tuesday (see below) generated not only huge online audiences but also huge mobile television audiences, says Wireless Week.

Qualcomm’s FLO TV says viewership increased more than 80 percent compared to the previous day, and the average viewer spent more than 40 minutes watching FLO, the article reports.  It was one of FLO TV’s best viewing days, and more than 85 percent of subscribers watching FLO between 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. watched the memorial coverage.

GoTV Networks was the official mobile partner for the concert promoter and AEG, which owns the Staples Center where the memorial service was held.  GoTV says its transmissions were congested because of the large number of subscribers trying to access the programs, but the company was able to resolve the problems, Wireless Week says.

GoTV’s press release says it was broadcasting the memorial service over six of its programs and nine cellular operator partners.

Increase in viewers no surprise

I’d be shocked if the memorial service didn’t result in a huge number of mobile TV viewers.  Major live events often generate significant increases in viewers.

For example, major sports events, such as the World Cup, result in many new mobile TV subscribers.

13.4 million Americans watched 3.3 hours of video on phones in 1Q09

Nielsen’s “Three Screen Report” says in the first quarter of this year 13,419,000 Americans (see below) watched 3.37 hours of videos per month on their cellular phones. 

Significantly more Americans watched in the first quarter of this year than in the fourth quarter of 2008, when 11,198,000 people watched cellphone videos, the report says.  In the first quarter of this year people spent slightly less time watching cellular phone videos compared to the fourth quarter of 2008 when they watched 3.42 hours per months (see below).

Although many more people are watching videos on the Internet — 131,102,000 in the first quarter of 2009, compared to watching on phones — they spent less time watching Internet videos — three hours per month — compared to the time spent watching on phones.

Still early days

Nielsen says, “Much of this growth continues to come from increased mobile content and the rise of the mobile web as a viewing option.”  I see cellular operators indeed wanting to increase the number of people who subscribe to mobile TV and mobile video packages, but it’s still somewhat of a hodge-podge of services.

I believe the cellular industry as well as subscribers are still trying to “wrap their heads around” the concept of viewing videos and, especially, live TV, on cellular phones. 

It’s not just that all the pieces have to come together in the right mix — handsets, pricing, content, performance, etc. — but also that consumers need to get accustomed to the idea of mobile TV.

Regular TV remains king

The number of Americans and the time they spent viewing videos on cellular phones pales, however, in comparison to watching regular television.  Nielsen reports that in the first quarter of this year 284,574,000 people watched 153.27 hours per month of TV in the home.

AT&T lists mobile TV services among top 10 first quarter '09 apps

AT&T Mobility lists two mobile television/mobile video applications in the top ten performing apps for the first quarter of 2009, according to the company’s press release.

AT&T Mobile TV is the second top application, with MobiTV as the fifth most popular.  Music is the category with the most apps — four. 

The No. 1 application for the quarter is AT&T’s Navigator service for GPS directions and related database access.

U.K.'s Times lacks details reporting lackluster U.S. mobile TV use

The U.K.’s Times says Americans’ response to mobile television is a yawn.  So is the Times’ article, unfortunately.

“If mobile TV in Europe is characterised by hype and a confusion of formats, here it is virtually ignored,” says the Times’ correspondent writing from the United States.

The article says that when the transition from analog broadcast TV to digital was postponed four months, which also delayed “the roll-out of new mobile TV services, the public outcry was, well, non-existent.”  The Times is referring to, I assume, FLO.TV’s problem with offering its mobile TV service because the spectrum remains occupied by some of the broadcast TV stations.

British readers, of whom the Times is mostly aimed, probably have no idea about Qualcomm’s FLO.TV (formerly called MediaFLO), and the article doesn’t enlighten them.  It’s also somewhat misleading because FLO.TV has been broadcasting in several several dozen markets, and the digital TV conversion doesn’t affect existing markets or launches in some other markets.

But that’s not the only area where there aren’t facts to back up conclusions, which in one case is simply incorrect.

Lack of facts, details

For example, the article says U.S. cellular operators offer a great deal of content from “two of the biggest mobile phone companies.”  Two?  Verizon Wireless, Sprint and AT&T Mobility offer a variety of mobile TV services — both live and on demand, and full-length programs and clips.

The Times says “no one is tuning in” to mobile TV in the U.S., but doesn’t provide any statistics to prove it.  Yes, mobile TV use is low, but just a little research — such as reading this weblog! — would have enabled the reporter to include some figures to back up his claim.

In addition, the article says, “Ironically, the only way mobile phone companies here can shift pricy mobile TV subscriptions is by bundling them with all-you-can-surf web access.”  That’s somewhat misleading.  A mobile data plan typically is required for mobile TV, but there are a variety of plans that don’t include mobile TV as well as separate plans for mobile TV services.

Content confusion?

The Times also writes, “Even when Americans do watch TV on their phones, the most popular channels are those showing classic films, with users viewing bite-sized chunks of old favourites rather than trying to follow baseball games or soap operas on a tiny screen.”  Once again, the writer doesn’t provide any statistics to back him up.

In fact, although I haven’t seen the latest detailed figures on mobile TV viewing, I think “classic films” is just one (maybe) of the top ten categories. For example, Nielsen Mobile says the most watched category is comedy.

Also, sports is very popular as a mobile TV genre, as NCAA March Madness use has shown. 

In addition, of all the types of programs to watch on a phone, I certainly wouldn’t castigate Americans for not watching “baseball games or soap operas.”  I’d praise their discernment.  Classic movies are much less mind-numbing than baseball (or any sports) or soap operas.

ChoiceStream's study on TV/video reports on camera phone video use

ChoiceStream’s “Viewer Trends in TV and Online Video” study contains a wealth of data about online and cellular video viewing habits that available for free in the nine-page pdf summary.

For consumers who watch television programs on devices in addition to a regular TV, ChoiceStream says 36 percent use a computer and six percent each use a cellular phone or a digital media player (see below).  I bet that even two years ago, the digital media player would have scored much higher than the phone.

In addition, consumers who watch program on another device spend a fair amount of viewing shows.  More interesting — assuming the data is correct, a greater percentage of people watch TV on their phones for a longer time than on a digital media player or a computer (see below).

ChoiceStream reports 33 percent of people who watch TV on a computer watch for at least four hours a week.  However, 47 percent use a phone to watch at least four hours a week.

Check out Multichannel News for an article about the report or download the summary from ChoiceStream’s Web site.

U.K. media survey highlights lack of interest in mobile TV, mobile videos

From newswireless.net I read about a very interesting survey conducted for the London-based corporate law firm Olswang of how U.K. consumers use and feel about media, including mobile television. 

The 148–page “Olswang Convergence Consumer Survey 2007,” available online for free, is packed with statistics and charts about mobile TV usage as well as many other consumer media products and services.  The survey was conducted by the market research firm of YouGov, that surveyed more than 1,539 British consumers who were 18 years old to 55 year old as well 254 consumers 13 years old to 17 years old.

The findings say previous surveys “have indicated a general lack of interest in mobile television services” and the current survey reports that the consumers surveyed are much more likely to use their cellular phones to share photos and videos with friends, to listen to music or podcasts that have been sideloaded from their computer and to listen to a built-in FM radio than to stream audio or video to phones, as Figure 25 illustrates (see above).

Survey respondents who aren’t currently streaming or downloading media to their phones aren’t much interested in doing so, as highlighted in Figure 26 (see below).  Only two percent are definitely interested and seven percent are possibly interested in streaming user-generated content or live TV to their phones or sideloading movies, TV or video podcasts.

Reasons for not streaming

The top five reasons (see above) why the respondents aren’t streaming live or on-demand mobile TV are: 

*  65 percent:  I have no interest in using a mobile phone for watching TV

*  51 percent:  I’m having watching TV programs on my own TV set

*  49 percent:  The screen is too small

*  33 percent:  I’d rather read a book/magazine/newspaper

*  31 percent:  The picture/sound quality on my mobile phone isn’t good enough

Certainly there are many people who simply don’t want to watch TV while on the go.  But two of the top five reasons — small screen and poor picture and sound — are technology issues, and technology is improving.

And if the people who responded negatively had been using a phone with a large, high resolution screen combined with a network that delivered good performance, I suspect a greater percentage would be more interested in mobile TV.

ABI says business models, content, distribution most important for mobile TV success

ABI Research’s latest mobile television report says technology is no longer the most important in the success of the business because it has sufficiently evolved, and other factors are now more important.

Developing business models for mobile TV, selecting content and establishing distribution channels are the major issues that need to be resolved, the research firm’s press release says.  “[S]uccessful mobile video technologies are largely in place,” according to findings in the “Mobile TV Services” report.

Michael Wolf, ABI’s director, says in the release, “Just a year ago there was a lot of discussion in the industry about whether unicast or broadcast distribution models would prevail, and it seemed possible that unicasting would soon disappear.  The new research suggests that while the major top-ranked channels will follow a broadcast model, unicasting it here to stay as a conduit for the ‘long tail’ of other content that consumers will desire.

“Unicasting also has the advantage of an unequaled intimacy between service providers, advertisers and other ‘captive’ audiences.”

ABI confirms my views

I agree.  I have written about this many times:  Mobile subscribers will want both forms of mobile TV.  I’m glad ABI’s research indicates the same thing.

Wolf also says, “Last year everybody was saying, ‘We’re only going to have two-minute, bite-sized morsels and mobisodes.’  Yet our latest research shows that people are actually watching mobile TV in their bedrooms, for 40 minutes at a time.

“So many content providers are now thinking about hour-long episodes of prime-time shows.”

Again, I’ve been saying the same thing:  Mobile subscribers will watch short video clips and full length programs.  Doesn’t anyone read this weblog?!

Telephia reports dramatic increases in mobile TV growth; recall of ads

"After another quarter of impressive subscriber growth, mobile video is rapidly becoming a significant new media distribution platform," according to Telephia.  The wireless communications research firm reports not just a dramatic percentage increase in viewers but also receptivity to watching commercials.

Telephia says that from the first quarter of 2006 to the first quarter of 2007 in the United States, mobile video revenues grew 198 percent, the number of subscribers great 155 percent and the penetration rate as a proportion of total cellular users increased more than 200 percent (see below).

Kanishka Agarwal, the vice president of mobile media of Telephia, says in the company's press release, "Within a very short time, the number of mobile video subscribers has grown to over 8 million, comparable with the average audience size for an episode of 'The Sopranos' this season."

Advertising recall

In a related finding, Telephia reports that cellular subscribers who view videos have a much greater recall of advertisements than data subscribers in general (see below).

The company says, "Video consumers had the highest recall of viewing ads on their phones as compared to all data service consumers, with 55 percent saying they recalled viewing a mobile ad in the last 30 days.

"This is nearly three times the recall rate for mobile data consumers in general. Even more promising, forty-one percent of mobile video consumers recently responded in some way to an ad, an encouraging sign for advertisers."

Acceptance

I've always contended that cellular subscribers would accept commercials for mobile video/mobile television, assuming the commercials aren't too long in relation to the length of the video or TV program. 

Of course, subscribers to mobile TV services, such as the MobiTV channels offered by Sprint and AT&T (Cingular), already view commercials when they watch the live streaming programs of, for example, MSNBC and Bloomberg.

M:Metrics reports mobile TV too expensive, unreliable, poor quality

A survey conducted by the research firm M:Metrics says mobile television users don't like the price, reliability or quality of the service and there are more people who tried -- and dropped -- mobile TV than are now subscribing to it, according to a press release by Tellabs, that commissioned the study.

M:Metrics surveyed 22,000 European cellular users in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the U.K. in November 2006.

The release says, "Forty-five percent of European mobile video and TV users cited pricing issues as a factor causing them to switch off the services.  And nearly a quarter (24%) of users who tried mobile video and TV stopped using the services due to concerns about service quality and reliability.

"The split between perception and reality was most pronounced in the United Kingdom.  Only 6% of those who had never used mobile video and TV cited quality and reliability as reasons not to try such services, but 29% of users had stopped using services because of quality and reliability."

Surprised people care so much!

Paul Goode, a senior analyst at M:Metrics, says in the release, "Pricing has already been highlighted as a stumbling block for recurrent use of mobile video and TV services, but we were surprised by just how much value users place on quality and reliability. 

"Once the basic requirements of quality and reliability are good enough, the focus will rightly shift to issues of programming, brands and marketing in addition to price. 

"This research highlights the need to address quality and reliability so the industry can retain viewers, which is a key part of growing audience numbers."

People care about quality?!

I find Goode's statement somewhat amusing because he was surprised that mobile TV subscribers care about quality and reliability.  You mean if the service is cheap enough, users won't care that the content is awful, the screen resolution is poor and the network performance is so bad the programs stop and start, or don't start at all?!

I'm shocked!  Shocked!

"Don't worry that this restaurant is so expensive because service is so slow you'll leave in disgust before you're served the rotten tasting food!"  (My quote, not Goode's.)

The press release says Tellabs can come to the rescue.  But never mind that.

M:Metrics seems to be saying that if cellular operators provide a crummy service on a variety of levels, people won't buy it.  Duh.