With an explosion in the adoption of iPods, cell phones, PDAs and other such handheld devices, interest in mobile content delivery is taking hold around the world–and industry stakeholders explored this burgeoning opportunity when a global audience gathered for the recent National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Convention in Las Vegas.
Mobile TV audiences, stakeholders say, are those who want to view what they want, when they want, and where they want. With this in mind, the more immediate news and issues tended to focus on getting this dynamic new delivery option off the ground and into the hands of viewers, meaning emphasis was placed on developing standards, trials and deployment.
With new nationwide mobile TV subscription services expected to launch in the U.S. in late ’06, content deals were also a discussion topic. Advertising is widely believed to be a piece of the puzzle, but at this point is more theory than implementation. Still with quantifiable mobile TV audiences expected in the foreseeable future, stakeholders recognize that mobile TV advertising could soon be a reality.
Before delving into that dialogue, let’s start with some of the news that is shaping this rapidly developing industry. Trials and pilot services have already started around the world, and just recently, mobile TV has made some high profile news.
In Europe, Italy’s 3 Italia is launching a mobile service in time to offer coverage of the wildly anticipated FIFA World Cup (soccer) that will be held next month in Germany. And Telecom Italia Mobile and Mediaset have jointly announced their intention to launch services in September. Meanwhile, Finland has awarded a license to Digita to build and operate a mobile TV network and rollout is expected to occur this year.
In the U.S., several trials are underway with launches expected later this year, and stakeholders are already moving to establish standards and practices. For instance, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Directors Guild of America (DGA) all recently reached agreements with Touchstone Television (a unit of the ABC TV Network) covering mobisodes of the series Lost, laying some precedent and groundwork for this young business.
And demonstrating the belief that mobile TV is set to take off, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences recently presented the first Emmy for original entertainment programming created specifically for nontraditional viewing platforms, including computers, mobile phones, iPods, PDAs and other such devices, last month at the 33rd annual Creative Arts Daytime Emmy Awards.
DEPLOYMENT As with the launch of any new delivery platform, standards are a chief concern among those developing services.
Today, a growing number of mobile TV service providers around the world are rallying around an open, non-proprietary mobile delivery standard known as DVB-H (handheld), the mobile standard from the Digital Video Broadcasting Project (DVB), an industry led consortium of over 250 broadcasters, manufacturers, network operators and other stakeholders committed to designing global standards for the delivery of digital television and data services. The DVB-T (terrestrial) is a widely used DTV standard in many parts of the world; the U.S. (which uses the ATSC DTV standard) however is an exception.
DVB-H trials and pilot services have taken place or are currently running on five continents including the following countries: Austria, Canada, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Denmark, China, Italy, Malaysia, Portugal, Singapore, Finland, Switzerland, France, the U.K,. Spain, Germany, Australia, South Africa, Taiwan and the U.S.
At NAB, the DVB announced recent developments, including the aforementioned 3 Italia launch. The organization also expects to see four cities in China using DVB-H mobile services by the end of ’06.
In the U.S., a group of wireless and entertainment companies has formed the Mobile DTV Alliance, a new organization to promote the growth and evolution of DVB-H inNorth America. Founding sponsor members include Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, and Texas Instruments. And at NAB, the organization announced that since its founding earlier this year, it has doubled in size, adding members including ATI Technologies, Axcera, Broadcom, DiBcom, Newport Media, PacketVideo, Penthera Technologies, RfStream, Roundbox, RRD and Terayon Communication Systems.
“The announcement of multiple new members underscores the Mobile DTV Alliance’s commitment to support an open standard for mobile digital TV broadcast, and will help grow this exciting space with more choices across the value chain for silicon, handsets, services and more,” says Yoram Solomon, president of the Mobile DTV Alliance and director of strategic marketing and industry relations for mobile connectivity solutions, Texas Instruments. “Broadcast industry support for DVB-H should allow mobile DTV handsets and service to reach the mass market fast and at a much lower cost for consumers.”
As for deployment, Modeo–a Houston-based subsidiary of Crown Castle International Corp.–plans to deliver digital content using the DVB-H standard to a variety of mobile devices in select cities including New York later this year, and extend that service to the top 30 U.S. markets throughout ’07. The Modeo service is currently in trials.
But the U.S. does not have consensus on DVB-H, as there are other delivery platforms in trials. Notably, Qualcomm’s MediaFlo mobile deliver technology (SHOOT, 3/24) is in trials and the company aims to launch a nationwide service by year’s end. This service is also generating quite a lot of attention. Qualcomm has established the Flo Forum to establish its service; members include manufacturers such as Paris-headquartered Thomson’s Grass Valley.
At NAB, manufacturers such as Grass Valley were positioning themselves to play in the mobile content production and delivery space. For instance during the Grass Valley NAB press conference, company president Marc Valentin declared, “Mobility is really here, and customers want it–it will be real, big business for Grass Valley in ’06.” In fact, Valentin asserts that the company has the technology for the creation and distribution of mobile content, and anticipates revenues in this space to reach in excess of $38 million this year.
CONTENT, ADVERTISING Modeo president Michael Schueppert estimates that that number of mobile TV viewers could exceed 20 million in the near term. “Handsets and content are going to be the key to making this something people what to buy,” he stressed.
Handsets, he points out, must be cheap, the right size, and have sufficient battery life. “The services also have to work the same across all handsets,” he added.
Content is the next issue. “I think the interest is in subscription services,” he says. “And I think with the explosion of viral video, you don’t need [an A-list Hollywood director] to create the content …We will learn to create content for the demographic.”
So far, the industry has seen the release of content ranging from series television (the aforementioned Lost), to unique opportunities, such as the availability of short comedic clips from Saturday Night Live.
Schueppert estimates that adults age 18-35 would make up about two-thirds of the audience that will buy mobile TV services. As for usage, Schueppert reports that early Modeo trials have users averaging a half hour of viewing a day, where the early expectations averaged five minutes on day. Advertising would scale to that, he says, explaining that while he believes mobile TV will take a subscription service model, it does put advertising revenue in a category larger than originally anticipated.
He noted the importance of getting the balance between both correct. “Some free services could succeed — but we can’t cannibalize the subscription service.”
“Sports rights are complicated,” he says, but predicts, “I think we will get to a point where anything that goes out free to air, we would get [for mobile delivery] as long as we carry the advertising.” Schueppert specifically cited the Super Bowl and Super Bowl commercials as a logical example.
Yet he says the company and the industry are also looking at different advertising opportunities that go beyond playing a traditional :30 during a commercial break in a program. For instance, a model could involve playing ads as a standard when a user changes channels to a new program.
Modeo, Qualcomm and others will be examining these and other models as the launch of new mobile TV services approaches.
