Sure, Give Us Mobile TV -- Just Don't Expect Us To Pay

from the if-you're-going-to-give-us-what-we-don't-want... dept

While wireless companies have been absolutely drooling over the prospect of moving broadcast television to mobile phones, many people have been asking why? People buy phones to communicate, not consume content. Even if some analysts claim that anyone who doesn't believe mobile broadcast TV is the "killer app" for TV is just a naysayer, it seems like worthwhile naysaying. There's little evidence for a strong pent up demand for people to watch TV on the go. Especially in an age of TiVo when people can time shift their viewing habits, live TV takes on lower importance. As we watch initial efforts at mobile TV in Korea it seems like the reaction is mixed. Certainly some people are interested, but it's hardly causing people to break down the doors. The fact is, mobile TV seems like a "nice to have" -- which is hardly the description of "the killer app." Certainly it might be nice to have it during a commute or to kill downtime, but it's likely to be a secondary function on the phone to communicating. More people will want a phone that handles the talking and texting party well than lets them watch TV well. In fact, a new survey supports this idea by showing that people would watch broadcast TV on their phones -- they just wouldn't pay for it. Again, this certainly suggests we're well outside of killer app territory.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    dorpus, 17 May 2005 @ 12:06pm

    Small TV's anyone?

    Portable TV sets the size of a brick were available in the 1980s, and people predicted that we would have millions of tiny TV's everywhere in the future. They're not being sold anymore, at least I haven't seen one anywhere recently. The opposite has happened, with a demand for huge TV sets. In the future, will people demand extra-large cell phones that can blast entire city blocks with ring tones?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    pr0vider, 17 May 2005 @ 3:17pm

    Tiny TV

    It seems to me that people who want this capability just don't have enough to do at the office.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Donald Jessop, 17 May 2005 @ 3:29pm

    What about the battery?

    I don't know about everyone else, but my cell phone probably does not contain enough power to watch the news on the way to work and then the news on the way home. (I take the bus, so don't worry about my driving. :-) )

    The only TV shows I watch are TV shows that my wife is interested in as well, so I would probably be watching the news. But two hours of broadcast TV on my cell phone? My battery would be dead. I can theoretically talk for four hours on my phone, but I think that receiving broadcast signals and then displaying them on the tiny screen would be more energy consuming than calling my wife. Do I want to charge up my phone twice a day? Hell, no!!!

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.