Jupiter: Consumers Want Free Mobile Video

Just a day after Sprint adds pay-per-view movies to its mobile phone offering, Jupiter Research comes out and says consumers just aren't keen on paying for mobile video.

Occasionally, the ironies of the technology industry are just too much to bear. Not even 24 hours after mobile operator Sprint announced it was now offering pay-per-view downloadable movies to its high-speed moble phone customers, market analysis firm JupiterResearch announces a new study which finds that, although some consumers are interested in getting video on their cell phones, they generally aren't interested in paying for it.

According to Jupiter, roughly 11 percent of mobile phones will be video-capable in 2006, and 25 percent of consumers are interested in receiving video on their mobile phones. But only one percent of mobile subscribers will pay for a subscription to mobile video services this year.

"This high level of interest demonstrates that there is market potential," said Julie Ask, Research Director at JupiterResearch an lead analyst on the study. "Service providers will need to give consumers context for watching TV on a small screen in order to convert interest into paid subscriptions. Given current consumer resistance to paying, the most plausible business model for carriers to adopt is one that combines paid and ad-supported mobile video subscriptions."

According to the report, consumers interested in mobile video mostly want live live television on their mobile phones, followed by full-length movies (WTF?), short video clips, and pre-recorded television shows.

In a surely unrelated development, across the pond in the U.K., BT Movio just announced it plans to bring television broadcasts from BBC One, ITV1, and Channel 4 to mobile phones via Virgin Mobile beginning in October, although some sports events, films, and American television programming won't be in the lineups. Cost: free if you're already paying £25 a month or more, otherwise £5/month and £199 for a video and DAB-radio compatible handset.

(c) Digital Trends News

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