MOBILE USE SKYROCKETING BUT FREE MOBILE TV SCARCE AS EVER
8/27/08
While some
cellphone providers now offer full-length TV episodes and some movies,
its usually categorized as premium content that users get charged more
for it.
On the Internet, a proliferation of sites have sprung up to
compete with pay-per-view media providers, but the mobile Internet lags
behind. The first few free sites are gaining ground and adding content
beyond short clips and mobisodes in preparation for the day when everyone with a cell phone watches video on it.
Right now, the viewing audience amounts to
about 7% of mobile subscribers, but mobile video revenues at domestic
carriers increased a staggering $198 million in the last quarter of
2007 over the prior year's final quarter revenues of $112 million,
according to an April 2008 Nielsen Mobile statement.
Almost half (47 percent) of mobile subscribers say they have an average
viewing session of 15 minutes or longer, and 25 percent watch 30
minutes or more which shows mobile viewers have the patience and yearn
for lengthy entertainment offerings.
If
you're a mobile subscriber who desires full-length content for free to
fill those 15 to 30 minute sessions, JollyJo.tv suggests these two made
for mobile sites:
2. Zoovision provides a massive array of video opportunities for one's mobile phone. It's a bit like free cable via cell. The TV channels include Election '08, Comedy, Short Films, Documentary, Automotive Video, Television, News, Music Videos, and Feature Films. The Television channel provides a few classic TV shows to watch: Dragnet, The Beverly Hillbillies (Episode 1), The Dick Van Dyke Show, and Petticoat Junction, while the News channel features headline news stories from CBS News.
If it seems like too short a list, it is. That's how few free mobile sites exist that provide full-length content. Perhaps if enough users flock to these sites in droves, more will start up. A little healthy competition never hurt anyone.
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This post guest-blogged by Carlie Lawson...
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