People Want Mobile TV But Don’t Want to Pay For It

Posted September 25th, 2008 by Kathryn in Mobile Technology

Being able to watch television on your mobile phone is something that consumers have been interested in for years. It is also something that has been successful in some parts of the world but which has seen barriers to development throughout most of the globe. Many of those barriers have recently been lifted and new trials of mobile TV technologies have been launched. However, many of those trials have failed to be as successful as they were originally anticipated to be. This is not due to the fact that people aren’t interested in mobile TV services because that interest remains high. Instead, it appears to be due to the fact that people don’t want to have to pay to be able to access television shows on their mobile phones.

A Brief History of Mobile TV Services

Mobile TV services have been around for a few years now although they are more successful in some countries (like Japan) than in other countries (like the U.S. and the U.K.) There was a brief surge in interest in mobile TV in 2006 but there were some significant problems with the service that prevented it from being fully adopted at that time. You can explore a more complete history of mobile TV services around the globe by checking out our previous article on the topic.

Barriers to Mobile TV and Reduction of those Barriers

The initial burst of interest in mobile TV services that took place in 2006 was hindered by the limitations of mobile technology at that time. The user interface on mobile phones, the basic design of cell phone handsets, the limited battery power and memory storage of most phones and other basic flaws in the design technology of phones made it so that most phones simply weren’t capable of fully handling mobile TV services. Combined with a lack of mobile content, there were some barriers in place that just weren’t hurdled by mobile TV service providers throughout much of the world.

However, wireless technology has come a long way in just a short few years and most of the barriers that hindered mobile TV development in 2006 are no longer problems for the industry. Although there remain some concerns (like what the standard should be for mobile TV) the majority of the problems that once plagued the mobile TV industry are no longer serious issues that are preventing mobile TV from being rolled out. Massive improvements in mobile phone handsets and more widespread availability of mobile broadband have made it very possible for mobile TV services to be easy to deploy.

People Don’t Want to Pay for Mobile TV

So if the barriers to mobile TV are now gone, why is it that we aren’t seeing a whole bunch of mobile TV service providers popping up? The fact of the matter is that many providers have launched mobile TV trials in the past year or so and that those trials have failed to see success. The reason that mobile TV trials have failed has very little to do with a lack of interest in viewing mobile television. In fact, people are highly interested in being able to watch videos and TV shows on their mobile phones. However, people simply do not want to pay for this service.

This refusal to pay for mobile TV is probably due to three major changes in the video and wireless industries that have occurred in the past few years. First of all people have gotten used to being able to view video content for free. Second, people can now access a lot of video content on their mobile phones using wireless broadband services. And finally there has been a recent shift towards flat rate plans that include all wireless services for one monthly charge.

The biggest player in this equation is probably the fact that people have gotten used to viewing video content at no charge. Sites like YouTube have become so popular that people assume that they should be able to watch funny clips and portions of shows for free. The growth of full-episode and streaming movie sites (like Joost and Hulu) have further ingrained the feeling that we should be able to watch what we want to watch when we want to watch it without having to pay a fee. This makes it difficult for mobile TV services to justify charging for their content.

Additionally, there has been a growth in wireless broadband and improvements made to the technology of cell phones which has made it possible for many people to easily access mobile websites on their cell phones. As this technology improves, it is becoming increasingly possible to view video and TV on the cell phone using the wireless network connection. For example, a phone that can connect to Wi-Fi can allow the user to watch YouTube videos from the mobile YouTube site. This suggests that the free video content available on the web will become popular on the mobile web and will further decrease a customer’s willingness to pay for mobile video content.

Finally, there has been an overall shift towards flat rate plans for mobile services. This shift has occurred as more and more people have started to use their cell phones to do more than just talk. People want to be connected all of the time via mobile IM, SMS and text messaging, mobile VoIP and the mobile web. And they want to pay one flat rate fee per month to do that. Therefore they want their mobile TV service to be wrapped up in that one rate or they don’t want to pay for it at all.

Solutions to Allow for Mobile TV Services

The fact that people don’t want mobile TV services doesn’t mean that people aren’t interested in mobile TV. People do remain interested in the service and there continue to be companies that are testing out the technology in limited markets. (Qualcomm and Echostar are two big names that are pursuing efforts in making mobile TV a viable business.) However, for mobile TV to work it is going to need to rely on a model of business that does not require the consumer to pay for video content. The most likely method of funding is going to be an ad-based model which is free to consumers but requires them to see short ads and commercials during the viewing of their video content. As evidenced by the popularity of free TV and video sites online, this doesn’t seem to hinder interest in viewing content and should be suitable for adaptation to the mobile TV market.