Mobile TV

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Telephia: Mobile Video Popularity Reaching New Heights With Triple-Digit Growth in Revenues and Subscribers

(c) Telephia

Mobile Video Consumers Primed for Advertising

After another quarter of impressive subscriber growth, mobile video is rapidly becoming a significant new media distribution platform. According to Telephia, the world's largest provider of syndicated consumer research to the telecom and mobile media markets, mobile video revenues in the U.S. totaled $146 million in Q1 2007, growing 198 percent year-over-year (see Table 1). There were 8.4 million mobile video subscribers last quarter with penetration doubling to nearly four percent since Q1 2006.

Table 1: Quarterly Mobile Video Revenue Share, Subscriber Size and Penetration Rate (U.S.)

                                                       Q1      Q1    YOY
Measurement 2006 2007 Growth
Mobile Video Quarterly Revenues (in millions) $49 $146 198%
# of Subscribers (in millions) 3.3 8.4 155%
Penetration (as proportion of all mobile subscribers) 1.6% 3.6%
Source: Telephia Mobile Video Report, Survey and Bill Panel Analysis, Q1 2007

"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," said Kanishka Agarwal, vice president of mobile media, Telephia.

"As the world's leading provider of video on the handset, MTV Networks recognizes the vast opportunities at hand for the mobile industry, from the sheer number of handsets out there, to the limitless potential for innovation the technology provides," said Greg Clayman, senior vice president, MTVN Mobile Media. "By cultivating an even deeper understanding of consumer behaviors and usage patterns, the industry will continue to build momentum and meet the growing demand for content on the handset."

Mobile Video Consumers More Receptive to Mobile Advertising

Telephia data shows that mobile video audiences are primed for seeing ads on their phones. 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 (see Table 2). 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.

"Consumers are used to seeing commercials on their TV at home, which has created a learned behavior that is transferring to mobile TV and making advertising more acceptable," continued Agarwal. "Nearly half of mobile video users are willing to view ads on their phones in exchange for something, translating into a compelling opportunity for ad-supported mobile content where marketers can target customers with relevant advertising."

Table 2: Mobile Data Consumer Recall Rates for Ads Viewed (U.S)

Consumer Type               Recalled Viewing an Ad
All Data Users 21%
Mobile Video Users 55%
Downloaded Application Users 43%
Mobile Internet Users 34%
Mobile Game Users 31%
Mobile Audio Users 26%
MMS Users 24%
SMS Users 20%

T-Mobile Launches WiFi Calling Nationwide

(c) MocoNews

T-Mobile has begun offering its HotSpot @Home service across the US, letting customers use the GSM network when away from home and the WiFi network at home--or a T-Mobile hotspot.

The service launches with two handsets--the Nokia 6086 and the Samsung t409, each costing $50--and will cost $10 per month extra on an individual plan and $19.99 per month extra on family plans. However, calls made on the WiFi network won’t count towards minutes. More importantly for content companies is the much faster (and reliable) download speeds offered by WiFi compared to cellular networks.

Not enough: Of course, the WiFi network is not enough to suddenly launch mobile content usage into the stratosphere. The general paradigm is that most mobile content is used as a time-filler, where someone is waiting for some reason and pulls out their mobile to pass the time... And successful mobile services are often location-based. The upshot is that getting people to download content at home for use later is going to require them to change their behaviour. There’s a need there for applications that download content in the background which can detect when the phone is using WiFi and download news, videos and so on from sites the user generally goes to which they can view later. Of course, this requires memory--the Nokia 6086 only comes with 5 Mb free memory, although it does have an SD slot so a 2Gb card is possible.

The Wall Street Journal has a piece on WiFi-enabled mobile phones in the US, probably precipitated by T-Mobile’s news but noting that Verizon Wireless has trialled the idea as well. Sprint has a smartphone with WiFi (not to mention its proposed WiMAX network), and of course AT&T is just about to launch the iPhone. “By 2011, nearly a quarter of all handsets shipped world-wide will have Wi-Fi, according to ABI Research, up from just 0.2 percent in 2006” notes the WSJ, adding that there are hassles with the technology such that WiFi drains the battery life faster than cellular networks.

UGC Users Outnumber Creators

(c) eMarketer

Are enough people recording their cats?

Even taking into account the power and ease of use of user-generated content tools like digital cameras and affordable audio/video production software, there are more content consumers than creators.

In the US, the number of users of user-generated content will hit 101 million by 2011, up from the 2006 estimate of 69 million.

Globally, the estimated number of user-generated content users will hit 254 million by 2011, up from 128 million in 2006.

Not surprisingly, the number of people who create content — i.e., post videos, photos, music, blogs, wikis, personal profiles and personal Web sites — is expected to increase significantly as the user-generated content movement gathers steam, rising to 95 million in the US by 2011, up from 70 million in 2007.

Globally, the number of user-generated content creators will reach 238 million in 2011, up from 137 million in 2007.