Amazingly Enough: People Don't Want To Pay To Watch Broadcast TV On Their Mobile Phones

from the who-woulda-thunk-it? dept

Fri, Mar 7th 2008 12:38am — Mike Masnick

Back in 2004, with mobile companies left and right announcing plans to launch premium-priced broadcast TV services for mobile phones, some of us were wondering who would actually pay for such a thing? After all, you were talking about a tiny screen and people on the go who likely didn't have the time to sit and watch an entire TV program. Even more importantly, in the age of both time-shifting and internet video, it's increasingly less important to be able to see a TV program right now, when you can catch up later. Yet, that didn't stop many companies from throwing billions into such projects, spurred on by analyst reports predicting huge revenue to come. Yet, after all these years, it seems that mobile operators are finally realizing that people just aren't that interested -- especially if it costs extra. It's no surprise why mobile operators ignored all the warning signs. Analyst firms were singing the praises of mobile data services and warning any operator that didn't jump on the bandwagon that they'd be left behind. Yet, at some point, you'd think it would make sense for the mobile operators and the analysts hyping this stuff up to take a step back and see if what they were pitching actually had any value to users.

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Filed Under: broadcast tv, mobile phones

18 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2008 @ 12:53am

Dee Dee Dee
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Macca, 7 Mar 2008 @ 1:00am

I've been able to access my full Sky package on my mobile phone via network operator three and a slingbox for over a year now. I think I pay an extra fiver a month for the ability. I wouldn't pay more - the price point is about right. Just because you 'can' do something doesn't mean you will. It has been handy a few times for catching up on a football game when out and about - but other than that is used very rarely.
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darrylxxx, 7 Mar 2008 @ 1:39am

Always struck me as strange. If there is so much free-to-air broadcasting in the UK (freeview), why wouldn't someone create a device to watch in on the move, for free? Paying for it through a greedy mobile company was never a possibility in my case.
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Anonymous Coward, 7 Mar 2008 @ 4:08am

Re:
"If there is so much free-to-air broadcasting in the UK (freeview),"

Just a minor correction there. It's not free, it's paid for via an enforced TV licensing subscription.
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Hellsvilla, 7 Mar 2008 @ 4:23am

There's sooo much!
There's so much that I don't want to watch on tv that I even canceled my cable services! I would just laugh at anyone who tried to sell me a cable like subscription on my phone...

Now if you manage to get ahold of some device that can fit in a pocket, AND pickup OTA transmissions, then you might be on to something, but the only party that will get rich off of that is the manufacturer... and since the market for mobile phones in this country is so tightly held by the wireless telcos, they'll prolly markup the hell out of it too.
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John S, 7 Mar 2008 @ 4:58am

TV on Phones
The logical business plan would next be to pass a law that you must watch TV on phones. It has a history that has worked in the past . If your new product isn't wanted get the Government to pass a law insisting it be used.
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Alaric, 7 Mar 2008 @ 6:03am

Bucking Major Trends --- not so smart
audio/video is going the way of on demand and streaming over internet.

But the carriers tried to force feed a poor quality broadcast service.

I'm thinking the carriers should continue to work on beefing up the capabilities of their network and forget about platforms for mobile TV.
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Jim, 7 Mar 2008 @ 7:56am

Duh!
Come on! why is anyone surprised at this?
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Jim, 7 Mar 2008 @ 8:14am

Re:
Please. Do the world a favor and quit supporting/encouraging that kind of low brow humor. Dan Whitney, Ned Mencia and their like are no small part of what's wrong with our nation.
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StevenMF, 7 Mar 2008 @ 8:40am

Pay Phone TV
Every time I see the request to soend $9 a month (or whatever) to watch Cartoon Network or ESPN on my 2" phone screen I chuckle. Who thought this would fly? Lunacy
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sonofdot, 7 Mar 2008 @ 8:46am

It's not just me?
For a very long time, I thought I was the only person who couldn't think of any reason why someone would want to watch TV on a cell phone. Since I also couldn't think of a good reason to text message, I just chalked it up to being an old curmudgeon. After reading this post, and the comments, I guess maybe I'm not alone, at least regarding TV on cell phones.

Welcome, curmudgeons!
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CrepeSuzette, 7 Mar 2008 @ 8:59am

Interesting timing. T-mobile has inundated my message box with offers of free TV for a week on my mobile in the hopes that some people will become interested in signing up. The cheer volume of messages I received makes me wonder if anybody is using this at all, even for free.
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Pro, 7 Mar 2008 @ 10:06am

Windows Media Encoder??
A couple years back I spent a few months across the country. I found it very handy to stream Red Sox games to my treo 700w from my computer with a TV card back home using Windows Media Encoder.

I get a laugh out of people that pay their phone company for video service, when the technology to get streaming video is already completely present on most phones.
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Lally, 7 Mar 2008 @ 1:56pm

David Lynch said it best

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKiIroiCvZ0
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Anonymous Coward, 8 Mar 2008 @ 10:43pm

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Darryl, 18 Mar 2008 @ 2:27pm

Re: Re:
Quite correct. Terrific value for money it is too! Since I've already paid for it, then I'd prefer to just pick it out of the air like my telly!
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c charles, 27 Jan 2010 @ 8:05am

Tip for MobiTV
The worse part is that a company like MobiTV thinks that watching a TV show on a cell phone is a necessary means of to life, and that people will not mind paying ten bucks a month for it, WRONG!

Charging $9.99 a month for a luxury item like this, on top of already high mobile phone bill, is not a smart business move.

This is a good tip for MobiTV....

REDUCE YOUR PRICE AND YOU WILL INCREASE YOUR CUSTOMER BASE, THUS INCREASING PROFITABILITY.

Simple Economics 101
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c charles, 27 Jan 2010 @ 8:06am

Tip for MobiTV
The worse part is that a company like MobiTV thinks that watching a TV show on a cell phone is a necessary means of to life, and that people will not mind paying ten bucks a month for it, WRONG! Charging $9.99 a month for a luxury item like this, on top of already high mobile phone bill, is not a smart business move. This is a good tip for MobiTV.... REDUCE YOUR PRICE AND YOU WILL INCREASE YOUR CUSTOMER BASE, THUS INCREASING PROFITABILITY. Simple Economics 101 http://automatichybrid.com
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