• by Masha Geller , January 7, 2003

Mulling over the last 12 months, you might vaguely remember a brief upswing of hype for wireless content delivery at the start of 2002. I, for one, vaguely recall hearing someone propose that 2002 would be the year wireless content would “save” the entire ad industry, which was too absurd a notion to debate.

Fast-forward to January 2003 and wireless content delivery proponents, buoyed by New Year’s resolutions and consumer adoration of cell phones and PDAs, are again attempting to drum up support for their medium, hoping 2003 will be “The Year of Wireless Content.”

Call me a grouch, but I still think that kind of hype is preposterous. Wireless content providers should worry less about ruling the media world and more about making some money before they go the way of a cell signal in the Lincoln Tunnel.

Sadly, one of the “smoking guns” in their argument for success is a recent Forbes.com study, which [besides outlining just how fabulously attractive Forbes.com visitors are to advertisers, and rightly so], showed that business professionals are embracing advanced wireless phone features that enable delivery of business-related and breaking news via their cell phones.

An expressed interest is nice, but who’s going to pay for it all? Unfortunately, wireless content providers have already abandoned hope of advertisers supporting the medium, so we can rule that out. Subscriptions? Well, according to the study, less than 20% of the study respondents who are interested in receiving business news via cell phone indicated they would be willing to pay for such services. Even fewer respondents would be willing to pay for general news/services, or entertainment news/services (16% and 15% respectively).

Obviously, a select few consumers like the idea of wireless content, but less than one in five think it’s worth their money. Alas, this is the best piece of research out there to support wireless content, which amounts to a bleak picture without a revenue stream. Perhaps 2004 will bring better tidings.