It's hard to know exactly what to expect from mobile TV. It's exciting, cool, and extremely handy in transit to be able to watch TV on your mobile device, but is anyone really going to watch a
full-length movie on his cell phone or BlackBerry? A new study from two British firms--Red Bee Media, a research company, and iBurbia, a media agency--says probably not, but that doesn't mean there
isn't a place for short-length mobile TV content. In fact, the study suggests that consumers would be better off providing shorter content exclusives on cell phones, like trailers and three- to
five-minute news clips. It found that subjects were in a completely different mindset when using cell phones compared to watching TV at home, causing them to want different things. Respondents said
they didn't want to see the TV channels they already have at home on their cell phones, but they also noted that what looks great on a widescreen at home might look terrible on a mobile screen. Sports
programs would be hard to follow on a mobile screen, because in many cases the ball would be too small, but two- to three- minute highlights clips might be useful to the end user. The British
researchers say consumer are willing to pay for video they value and they're also willing to sit through advertisements if they feel as though they're receiving something of value in return. I for
one think mobile providers should take a page out of the Disney playbook and offer free content in exchange for sitting through a pair of 15-second ads.
Read the whole story at Media Life »
