Исследование о текущем спросе на мобильное ТВ

Ниже приводится статья из LOS ANGELES TIMES, снабженная комментариями, которые я счел уместным сделать.

No big demand for small screen

Before Kaitlyn Brown headed to church camp this summer, her mother outfitted the 13-year-old with a sleek new Sprint phone that boasts one of the newest features on the market: mobile television.

"Me and my mom thought it would be a cool thing," said the soon-to-be seventh-grader, who lives in Texas. But after watching a couple of jerky transmissions of comedy clips on the phone's display panel, Brown quickly became disenchanted.

"It kept stopping midstream and stuff," she said. "I didn't really like it, so I took it off. It was extra money, and I didn't think it was worth it."

She's not alone.

Entertainment purveyors may be scrambling to package their content into mobisodes (that's mobile episodes), video downloads and podcasts, but a new Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll found that teens and young adults — the generation most likely to be the early adopters of this new technology — have yet to fully embrace it.

About half of young adults and four in 10 teenagers said they were uninterested in watching television shows or movies on computers, cellphones or hand-held devices such as video iPods, the poll found.

Стало быть от 50 до 60% - таки интересуются возможностью смотреть видео и ТВ на своих мобильных устройствах.

While more than two out of five teens and young adults indicated they were open to viewing this kind of content online, only 14 percent of teenagers said they wanted to watch television on a cellphone, and 17 percent said they would view programs on an iPod.

Было бы интересно исследовать текущий спрос с точки разделения таких разных типов сервисов, как:

1. Трансляция обычного эфирного или кабельного ТВ на мобильные устройства, и
2. Вещание (или доступ к видео) специально предназначенное для мобильных устройств

Думаю, что обычное ТВ на мобильные устройства - действительно мало кому нужно!

The findings suggest that networks are rushing to package content for these new platforms before even tech-savvy young consumers are hankering for the "third screen" experience. They're filling a need that isn't yet there.

Можеть быть вопрос в том - что и как "пакуют"?

The survey, which asked a wide range of questions about entertainment consumption, highlighted the pervasive influence of television, particularly on tween girls, a majority of whom reported that TV shows affected their dress, speech, music preferences or social activities.

Тоже мне, великое открытие!

In addition, it found that a surprisingly high number of teenagers and young adults gleaned news from traditional media sources such as local television and network newscasts — for many through a sort of information osmosis as they absorbed news from programs their parents were watching.

Ну и тоже ничего удивительного!

Perhaps most intriguing, however, was the indication of a widespread indifference toward small-screen viewing among teenagers and young adults. While many in the industry expect the demand for such content to rise dramatically in the coming years, the poll offered clues to a consumer reluctance that first must be overcome.

In follow-up interviews with those surveyed, many young people said they were intrigued by the notion of getting their entertainment on devices such as cellphones and iPods.

But two major obstacles have so far dampened their enthusiasm: the cost and the uneven quality of the experience.

Слишком много сильных выражений типа reluctance, dramatically и т.п. Все это нам тоже известно. Пока игрушки для мобил - класса игр для Sinclair'а 15-ти летней давности. Ну и что? Растет требовательность потребителей, растет уровень качества предложения (опережая, кстати, рост стоимости). Нормальный процесс.

"It just seems like a needless expense to me," said Mark Lopez, a 23-year-old political science major at Cal State Fullerton. "And I would think it would be grainy and not as clear of a picture. My choice would be to watch something first on TV, or TiVo it."

Steven Jagodzinski, a 21-year-old computer science student in Baltimore, is a fan of cartoons such as "South Park," which would seem a natural fit for mobile viewing. But he said the idea seemed "pointless."

"Why would I want to look at a video clip on my cellphone?" he said. "I'd rather make phone calls on it."

А какая у Стива мобила? Если старше чем годовалая, действительно, большому поклоннику мультфильмов смотреть их на ней не стоит.
Пока ни слова не было сказано о том, что потребление видео через мобильные устройства кардинально отличается от потребления через другие устройства. Это в чистом виде casual потребление.
Пока под эту модель контента очень мало. Будет адекватное предложение - будет и спрос. С новыми технологиями - только так. Пока человеку не предложить что-то попробовать, он и знать не будет что ему это надо. А раз попробовав, будет в очереди не газету читать, а видео смотреть. :-)
Ведь базовую потребность - в развлечении, а еще шире - в структурировании, насыщении событиями своего времени, никто не отменял, она будет только расти.

Young people aren't alone in their slow embrace of the small screen. Recent studies by several independent research firms indicate that only about 1 percent to 3 percent of mobile phone subscribers currently watch videos on their phones.

Для только нарождающейся услуги (от роду ей год-два, мобильной связи как таковой - скоро четверть века) существующих технологий вещания и предлагаемого контента - и то неплохо.

But media executives are confident that the appetite will increase once the technology improves and the price for hand-held devices drops. They note that while young people may be reluctant to watch full-length feature films or even 22-minute television episodes on small screens, they may be more interested in viewing short clips, a kind of "snack TV."

That's why the major entertainment companies are developing a slew of original content.

Вот! С этим полностью согласен!

"The future of connecting with customers is going to be figuring out the ways to give them what they want, on the devices they want, when they want it," said George Kliavkoff, who last week was appointed NBC Universal's first chief digital officer.

Twelve- to 14-year-old girls showed the greatest eagerness about small-screen viewing, with 20 percent of those surveyed open to watching television shows on cellphones and nearly a quarter interested in checking out programs on iPods — if they had the latest model.

Категорически верно! Девочки 12-16 лет - наши лучшие и главные потребители!
И очень мало для них контента пока... :-)

"I think it's really cool and I would love to have it," said 14-year-old Katie Stears of Jamestown, Ky., who has pleaded with her parents for a video iPod. "You don't have to always be at home to watch TV."

Television clearly has a strong hold on teenagers, who spend a substantial amount of time glued to the screen. About two-thirds report that they watch two hours of television or more on an average weekday, with nearly a quarter watching for more than four hours.

Teen girls ages 12 to 14 appear to be the most affected by what they're seeing. Almost two-thirds reported that television has influenced their behavior in some way, whether it's how they talk, what they wear or what they buy. For many in that group, popular shows such as MTV's "The Hills" provide a universal lingo.

Ага, что еще более важно, это - лучшая из сред для вирусного маркетинга!

Kids who aren't familiar with the lexicon of the shows are "not on top of the pyramid" at school, said Brittany Thornton, a 14-year-old in Screven, Ga.

So what would happen if she could no longer watch television?

Thornton sounded anguished just contemplating that prospect: "I would be devastated."

For their part, a large share of young adults appear to be turning to broadcast television for their news. According to the poll, 38 percent said they got their best information about current events from local newscasts and 19 percent said it came from broadcast network news.

Despite the widespread belief that a sizable number of young people get their news from satirical programs such as Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show," just 3 percent of teenagers and 6 percent of young adults surveyed said that's how they found out about current events.

Anchorage resident Rhen David Belz, 18, said he tuned into the local news every night, right before he caught a rerun of "Seinfeld." "I would feel a little disconnected if I didn't," he said.

But Belz said that he thought he was "somewhat unusual."

"A lot of my friends don't follow the news at all," he said. "They have no idea what's going on, and they like it that way."

In interviews, more than half a dozen teens said they didn't actively seek out the newscasts — they're simply exposed to them because their parents or other relatives have the programs on at home. Still, even if they aren't actively engaged in watching the broadcasts, many seem to absorb the news.

Еще большой вопрос - насколько интересен нынешний новостной контент для молодняка.

That's not to say that many teens are turning into news junkies.

"I think our generation thinks watching the news is dorky and not a lot of fun," said 14-year-old Casey Hankins of Lakewood, Colo., who said he only catches news programs every few weeks when he's visiting his grandfather, a regular viewer.

But Hankins admitted he probably would grow more interested as he got older.

"I think I'll want to know more stuff then," he said.

By MATEA GOLD
(c) LOS ANGELES TIMES

Общее резюме: для того, чтобы делать выводы из исследования надо:
а) знать как оно проводилось
б) видеть его в подлиннике, а не в пересказе.
Статья опубликована в качестве базы для полемики. :-)