The hype around mobile TV continues to grow with rumours of a trial by major UK terrestrial broadcasters the BBC and ITV, and analysts predicting that the World Cup will kick-start mobile TV as a service.

The key to successful mobile TV is compelling content than can reliably and cost-effectively be broadcast to the handsets. Studies have consistently shown that it takes at least 4 years for a mobile technology to move from being supported on a few handsets to being widely used in the market, so there is certainly no imminent flood of mobile TV, but even this 4 year time-frame can only be achieved if the following 3 issues are resolved:

1. Standards. One of the competing standards needs to emerge as the winner with at least the same standard being used by each operator in each country. The effort of making these technologies reliable is massive and if the expertise is spread across different standards with different handsets the whole process will be slowed down massively.

2. Universal Access. We need to move away from an Operator-centric model. If the Operator's buy up different content for their networks then it's going to be up to the operator to promote it. Most people decide what to watch on their conventional televisions by reading about it in the newspapers or buying a listings magazine. If there are different channels on different operators, then the mainstream publishers are not going to cover the content available on - say - Vodafone - as only a tiny proportion og the UK will have it. Furthermore,  the viral-growth factor will not come into play. You can't talk over the water-cooler about a show that you can only watch on one network.

3. Compelling Content. Even the rumours about the BBC trial only suggest that their 24 hours news channel will be broadcast over mobile. What is needed is high quality content, that can only be broadcast over mobile. The World Cup will be a dead loss for mobile TV as the vast majority of fans will watch it on their newly purchased flat screen TVs or down the pub with their mates. Although they might be interested in watching a clip of the winning goal on their phone, they will not be watching entire matches. If the BBC - or any other broadcaster - really wants to produce compelling content, then they should make their back catalogue available on-demand over mobile. I'd pay to watch an old episode of Some Mother's Do 'Ave 'Em on the way home from work.

Rather than over-hyping the possibilities, analysts should be formulating effective mobile TV strategies for their clients and dealing with the these real issues. We all know the possibility is there, but overcoming these practical problems will be a significant barrier for those looking to make compelling mobile TV services mainstream.

Original Source: Mobile Strategies