Europe
: Results from pilots on broadcast (DVB-H) mobile TV services amongst
consumers in Finland, the UK, Spain and France have revealed clear
consumer demand for such services as well as important indications
over future business models for commercial mobile TV services.
Each of the pilots involved Nokia and a broad spectrum of companies,
including broadcasters, mobile operators and broadcast network providers,
revealing the widespread interest in making mobile TV a reality. Each
pilot also involved broadcasts of live digital TV content over DVB-H
networks to the Nokia 7710 smartphone.
Consumer demand for mobile TV
Interim results from the pilot in Oxford, UK, revealed that 83% of
participants were satisfied with the service and over three quarters
(76%) said they would take up the service within 12 months. In France,
68% said they would pay for mobile TV services while over half (55%)
in Spain were willing to do so. Nearly 75% of Spanish participants
would recommend the service to friends and family.
Pricing Models
The potential commercial benefits of mobile TV for the industry are
made clear by these pilots with such a high proportion willing to
pay for the service. The most popular pricing model to emerge is a
monthly subscription for a package of channels. In the Helsinki pilot,
half of those that took part thought €10 per month was a reasonable
price to pay, while in France, 68% were willing to pay €7 per
month for mobile TV services.
Viewing Patterns
New prime times for broadcasters and advertisers also emerge from
the pilots. The UK results reveal a lunchtime viewing peak higher
than the normal TV pattern, suggesting that viewers are enjoying their
favorite TV content while on their lunch break. In France, participants
watched mobile TV for 20 minutes on average per day with early morning,
lunchtime and mid evening representing the periods of highest use.
The Spanish pilot also reveals mobile TV viewing spread throughout
the day with early evening representing peak viewing.
An interesting aspect of all the pilots was that many users watched
mobile TV within their homes. Almost half of those taking part in
the French and Spanish pilots claimed to mainly watch mobile TV at
home. For almost a third of participants in the UK pilot, this represented
their first taste of multi-channel TV.
Content
The overwhelming message from these pilots is that consumers want
both a wide range of channels but also content that is suitable for
watching on mobile devices. The most popular types of content were
news, sports, music, soaps and documentaries. Interactivity was also
an important functionality with over half of Spanish users (58%) saying
they wanted specific, interactive content adapted to shorter viewing
times. In the Finnish pilot, the San Marino and Monaco Grand Prix
as well as the UEFA Champions League match between Liverpool and AC
Milan were among the top 10 programs viewed.
"These pilots, as well as those currently taking place across
the globe, are a vital component of the development of broadcast mobile
TV, demonstrating consumer demand and the business models for viable
commercial services," commented Ilkka Raiskinen, Senior Vice
President, Multimedia Experiences, Nokia. "We are delighted with
the results of these pilots which have involved such a broad spectrum
of different companies from the mobile and broadcast industries. These
pilots have proven to be very useful for all the different players
involved in the mobile TV industry."
DVB-H technology allows TV channels to be distributed effectively
to mobile devices. It provides the best user experience in the mobile
environment with excellent, broadcast quality picture, reduced battery
consumption and wide range of channels (up to 50 channel are possible).
Nokia will bring the Nokia N92 device together with Nokia's Mobile
Broadcast Solution 3.0 network elements to the market in summer 2006
to provide the most complete implementation of existing broadcast
mobile TV standards on the market. According to Informa, there will
be 50.97 million DVB-H devices sold globally by 2010.
About the Helsinki, Finland Pilot
The Finland pilot took place between March and June 2005 with 500
users and involved Nokia, Digita, Elisa, Nelonen, Sonera and YLE.
About the Oxford, UK Pilot
The Oxford pilot commenced in September 2005 offering 16 channels
to 375 pilot participants. The pilot is being conducted by O2, Arquiva
and Nokia with the final results being announced in spring 2006.
About the Spanish Pilot
The pilot, the first of its kind in Spain, involved 500 users in Madrid
and Barcelona and was conducted by Abertis Telecom, Nokia and Telefonica
Moviles. The results were announced at this year's 3GSM World Congress
in Barcelona.
About the French Pilot
The pilot is running by CANAL + Group, Nokia, SFR and towerCast between
September 2005 and June 2006 and involves 500 users.
Finland UK Spain France
Positive response to mobile TV 58% believe Mobile TV services would
be popular 83% are satisfied with the service 75% would recommend
the service 73% were satisfied with the service
Willingness to pay for mobile TV 41% 76% 55% 68%
Acceptable monthly fee for mobile TV €10 - €5 €7
Average daily viewing 5 to 30 minutes of Mobile TV per day on average
23 minutes per session with 1 to 2 sessions per day 16 minutes 20
minutes
Peak viewing times - Mornings/lunchtime/ early evenings While commuting
and between 7pm and 8pm Morning (9-10), midday (1-2) and evening (8-10)
Popular content Local programs available through Finnish national
TV and sporting events News, soaps, music, documentaries and sports
News, series and music News, music entertainment, sport, documentaries,
films
