By Sylvia Carr, 14 November 2005 13:10
NEWS
Mobile TV is clearly on its way - but it remains less clear whether anyone will watch it.
While recent research shows the public holds a mixture of views toward the new service, silicon.com readers are clearly not interested.
In a recent reader poll, three-quarters of the 489 respondents said that even if the content were good, they would not watch TV on a mobile phone.
One in five said they would be interested, while a mere 2 per cent - or 13 early adopter respondents - said they already watch TV on their mobile.
The most promising demographic for mobile TV appears to be teenagers. A recent study from market research firm Parks Associates showed nearly 40 per cent of US teens would like to watch music videos on their phones.
Comments
There are 11 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
Mainstream users will NEVER "watch TV on their PHONE" But will Telephone, watch TV, grab information, buy a car, edit photos, compose music....on their Micro COMPUTER!
Semantics of the products NAME are essential here : Nokia,Apple, Sony&Co need to morph NSeries, Ipods, PSPs in NATIVELY Defined multipurpose computers.
The 80-90's saw the growth of Personal Micro-Computer.
2006-? will see the growth of Personal Nano Computer i.e always on, in the pocket.
Let's talk about Computers, NOT "PHONES".
2. Simon Cox
I consider myself an early adopter in most technology but this one is a dead duck. It's about as useful as wifi in a church.
Why on earth would I want to watch tv on a tiny screen in public and become a mugging victim (and these will replace iPods as the 'must mug device') when I can sit in my home in comfort and watch those programmes I wish to see on a huge screen with surround sound etc.
3. Richard Hennah
There are plenty who believe it will be big - watch out for purpose made programming in the early new year. !!
4. Gary R
Handheld portable tv's aren't exactly in big use, if at all, so i hardly think tv delivered through mobiles will take off. A two minute novelty factor that will drain your phone of all its power.
5. mike burgess
Micro Computers - catchy - I can see those flying out of the shops.
Let's face it - kids love their phones. To many young people a PC is the beige box in the corner of the room that their parents use. E-mail isn't the lingua franca of this generation, SMS is.
Ask a teenager if they'd like to watch TV on their phone and the resounding answer will be "COOL! yes please"
There are millions of video downloads onto mobile's every day.
The question is can TV deliver. At the moment the answer is 'nearly'. Come widespread DVBH I can imagine a lot of you nay saying posters coming back here and editing your posts.
6. anonymous
Why
7. Guy Reynolds
If it is seen to catch on or a a major part of their market by TV companies, are they going to be altering their output to suit:
Mega graphic and text so that they can actually be read on a mobile phone display.
No programmes longer than a few minutes to suit the users attention span/abilty to pay/battery capacity.
Films and programmes adjusted so that faces are in continuous close up so that you can see people expressions.
If they don't TV on a mobile will be as unwatchable as on a handheld TV, if they do, then I may as well chuck my TV in the bin as it will make programs un watchable.
8. Graham Knowles
If you had asked the same 489 people ten years ago if they would be interested in surfing the net and emailing from their mobiles you would have probably received the same negative - Nay Sayer response! the fact is that Mobile TV WILL be huge perhaps not with the 30 - 40 somethings but the younger generation, who are getting older and more affluent will be hooked. Check back with me in 5 years...you'll see!
9. PW
Yes but...
How many people thought they would use text messaging as a key communications medium in 1990? and how many thought that the USA would like it as much as Europe by 2000?
Why aren't we using our current 3g phones for video calling and data exchange?
It seems to me that the questions should be more about availability, purpose and (the killer) cost. People will only respond based on their current experiences. We are tending towards the inconvenient use of wi-fi hot spots instead of phones for data all because of cost, so it is reasonable that we generally assume TV will have an unrealistic premium attached to it and therefore we are not likely to watch it.
10. Alexis D
Mobile TV with lots of other service could take off. But everyone seems to think that one will try to watch it like you would at home.
For most day-to-day users this will patently not happen - screen size, battery life etc...
They way people will use (I think) is to fill up those down-time moments (e.g. 15 minutes while waiting for a train or a mate in a pub) or to catch-up on a specific event (Wimbledone final.)
Anyway this is all fairly moot until spectrum and licensing issues are sorted!
11. Neil T
Mobile TV on a handset may not appear great but think further afield..
Combine a pair of funky sunglasses with an inbuilt mini screen, earplug headphones from the arms, pocket based generic mobile phone/TV receiver with the ability to store music etc, you have the ultimate jogging / holiday / relaxing in the park media center / video calling / sat nav (psp/ds/???..games) "gadget thing" (rushes off to copywrite name). Now u decide..xbox 360 or motorola razor or the new "gadget thing" ... mmmmm