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Mobile TV and Video - Compelling content will drive revenues[March 22nd 2006] Persistently declining voice revenues, exacerbated by the need to pay off expensive 3G licences, mean that operators will seize any opportunity to generate data revenues.Mobile TV and video provides many revenue streams and, with the right content strategies and business models in place, promises to have mass market appeal. Despite the well-documented convergence that is now taking place in order to facilitate the provision of mobile TV and video services, there is a fundamental difference between the telecoms and television industries; whereas the telecoms industry has been technology-led, the television industry has been content-led. It is becoming apparent that the provision of quality content and the strength of brands will be what drives uptake of mobile TV, rather than technology per se. Although technology is an important enabler, content is what is really important. Mobile operators must adjust their focus to this end. If players in the value chain do not get their content strategies right, mobile users will simply not be interested in mobile TV. In a nutshell, content must be compelling. This is the core theme of a new management report from Informa Telecoms & Media, which brings together the latest research and current market information from around the world. Paradoxically, it seems that, 'although mobile operators have the most at stake, they may not necessarily be the real winners from the provision of mobile TV and video in the long term' says Helen Ponsford - the author of the 'Mobile TV and Video Content Strategies' report. 'Rather, it is the content owners that are best placed to capture the lion's share of the revenue, not least because they can take advantage of their control over mobile broadcast rights to ensure that distribution of content is on their terms rather than that of the operator'. However, while mobile broadcast rights are undeniably a valuable asset, it is vital to keep their value in perspective. Quite simply, if content does not fit the needs of the media industry, it will not sell. When creating content that will be compelling and drive uptake, content developers need first to consider their audience. The 'young male' demographic is currently over-represented among the early adopters of mobile TV and video content services while the female demographic is proving harder to attract. In South Korea, for example, 62% of SK Telecom/TU Media's mobile TV subscribers are male; of these, 39.2% are in their 20s and 25.8% are in their 30s. However, it is difficult to know which came first: the content or the audience? Did compelling male-oriented content (notably, sports/adult) create demand from young males or did demand from young males cause this type of content to become a priority for content developers? Either way, it is apparent that all mobile TV and video content is not created equal. Content developers need to consider which genres will make them the most money. In future it is expected that mobile TV and video will have the same mass market appeal as regular TV. This creates a dilemma for content owners. Should they target young males who can be relied upon to use the service in the short term or produce content for a wider audience that may expedite mass market adoption of mobile TV and video? This theme is among those explored in 'Mobile TV and Video Content Strategies&'. Content formatting is another of the topics discussed in detail in the report. It is anticipated that most mobile TV programming will be repurposed rather than simulcast, making mobile TV content distinguishable from regular TV content. Just because it is technically possible, service providers should not necessarily aspire to make mobile TV the mirror image of regular TV on a mobile. Rather, the report finds that they must strive to add value through experimenting with new formats and cross-promoting strong branded content across platforms. The 150-page report Mobile TV and Video Content Strategies is published by Informa Telecoms & Media, which produces several media business publications, including Mobile Media and Mobile Messaging Analyst research services. The report is available for purchase from today priced at £999/$1898/€1498. About Mobile TV and Video Content Strategies Mobile TV and Video Content Strategies thoroughly analyses in detail the rights issue and pricing models, along with the content formats and business models of this emerging sector. The report also includes a number of real life case profiles of major industry players across the mobile TV and video Value chain, highlighting the key roles of mobile TV in the mobile industry, in addition benefit from the unique forecasts to 2010 detailing video download and streaming users and revenues for Europe, Africa, and Middle East, Asia Pacific, North and Latin America. This report provides coverage of what types of content are likely to generate the most revenue and how members in the mobile TV and Video value chain can work together to optimise revenues. www.informatm.com/videocontent/?src=itmpr About Informa Telecoms & Media
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