Summary
1) A boost to watching TV on mobiles may come from the unlikely source of Slingbox and place-shifted viewing of content the consumer already subscribes to.
2) There may be a model where MSOs in their quest for quadruple-play bundle DVB-H mobile TV services to help boost customer tenure and retain customers.
3) In the UK, Sky TV already do this with online and mobile content.
4) Sky has added value via its remote record. And so, it may be the ‘convergent services’ that add value to the mobile TV viewing proposition – and reinforce the value of the bundle. Whereas, pure mobile TV propositions may fail given relevance to consumer needs and viewing experience.
Analysis
·Verizon may be aiming to boost declining voice revenues and limit churning customers by launching entertainment value added services. The theory is that these services will aid differentiation and help build loyalty and tenure. However, the services have to be relevant to consumer needs and provide a positive consumer experience - and that is where many mobile TV ventures fail.
·In the UK, the MVNO Virgin Mobile launched the first broadcast mobile TV. This featured major terrestrial channels such as BBC1 and ITV and was delivered by a dedicated Windows operated smart. It did not take off – despite simple, affordable pricing and heavy media placement. Advertising has been dramatically reduced (nonexistent) and handsets being removed from point-of-sale.
·Ironically, we can look back in time to the portable TV units in the late 1980s/early 1990s. They did not gain much consumer traction. This in part comes down to the fact that TV viewing is primarily an activity that occurs in a static location, on a large (viewable) screen and generally a social experience with other people.
·However, a boost to watching TV on mobile devices may come from the unlikely source of Slingbox and place-shifted viewing of content the consumer already subscribes to. Clearly, many consumers do not take kindly to being charged to view content on their mobile when they have already paid to view it for home (or can view online for free). I can see more customers taking advantage of place-shifted viewing options such as Slingbox as opposed to signing up to subscription based DVB-H mobile TV services. There may be a model where MSOs in their quest for quadruple-play bundle DVB-H mobile TV services to help boost customer tenure and retain customers.
·For instance, in the UK BSkyB promotes its sport and movie content online – which is available exclusively to its premium satellite digital TV subscribers. Initiatives like this increase stickiness to Sky’s products and reduces the likelihood of churn.
·Indeed, Sky already has a mobile service. With Sky Anytime on your mobile – subscribers can: i) get the latest news headlines, selected sports clips, movie trailers and celebrity gossip, 2) use it to search the 7-day Sky TV Guide and set their Sky+ set top box to record direct from the mobile, and 3) with a compatible handset watch more than 20 made for Sky Mobile TV channels. This is available to Vodafone or Orange 3G customers. It is estimated that Vodafone has gained 250,000 TV subscribers courtesy of the Sky mobile deal. In additional to broadcast TV, the ability to set your set top box to record a show is a strong consumer service. And so, it may be the ‘convergent services’ that add value to the mobile TV viewing proposition – and reinforce the value of the bundle.
