Customers Report Growing Interest in Mobile TV

Market research firm Compete Inc. released a study last week indicating that overall network traffic related to mobile TV on the “big fourâ€? carrier websites – Verizon Wireless, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint – has doubled – to 1% — since last fall. Compete attributes the increase to the visible marketing campaigns promoting Verizon’s VCAST and Sprint TV.

Thirteen percent of all cell phone owners surveyed reported definite interest in watching television on their phone (with men being somewhat more open to the idea), particularly if the content is live. And, of that subset of interested users, 69% would prefer to pay a monthly subscription fee, rather than use an a la carte pricing structure.

A separate survey, commissioned by Research and Markets, suggests that 60% to 85% of people who have seen video on a handset reacted positively to the experience — and many participants in the survey immediately asked how to sign up for the service.

It seems reasonable to conclude that between the expanding casual interest, the staggeringly positive reaction from those who’ve seen mobile video in action, and potential customers’ inclination to pay monthly subscription fees, mobile TV and other multimedia content represents an important arena in which cell phone carriers can differentiate services in an ever more competitive market — assuming the content producers, providers, and carriers can work together to produce worthwhile packages.