June 17, 2007
Yes, the Screen Is Tiny, but the Plans Are Big
The New York Times reports on big media's plans in bringing video content to mobile phones.
"ESPN, CBS and MTV, as well as news organizations like The Associated Press and the Hearst Corporation, are investing in original cellphone content. After all, there is no other medium that most people carry with them everywhere, and some media executives are wagering that consumers will fill their empty moments — however fleeting — with mobile media content.
... Many mobile-content providers assume that consumers with more than a few minutes to spare won’t be attached to their cellphone screens. Yet executives at broadcast networks like ABC say that this assumption is worth challenging, and they are betting that consumers will also watch longer-form content on their phones. Last month, ABC began showing full-hour episodes of shows like “Lost” and “Grey’s Anatomy” on Sprint’s network.
Albert Cheng, executive vice president for digital media at ABC, says people may think that short-form content works best on cellphones simply because that is the bulk of what has been developed. “We’re all experimenting,” he says. “I don’t think any of us really knows what people want on mobile.”
But one must really look beyond America to see where TV on mobile phones is going. According to an article in the BBC, services in Japan, South Korea and Italy are attracting millions, confounding critics who said people would not watch TV on a small device.
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