Fatcontroller

I’ve finally closed down my old blog, but found a post from back in 2006 that i couldn’t quite bring myself to throw away. It was the time when BT movio launched their DAB-IP mobile TV service, which closed down a year later due to several reasons: only one handset, one operator supporting it and a lack of demand for mobile TV as a killer reason to buy a, let’s be honest, ugly handset. The pic here is one of the prototype devices but it wasn’t that much uglier than the device which was launched, even if Pamela Anderson tried to counteract the fact… (sorry virgin mobile!). The service was 5 digital TV channels on your phone; and thanks to the DAB technology it was based on, the full selection of DAB digital radio stations in your area (50 in london), with a full 7 day programme guide (EPG) with colour logos and LiveText (the scrolling text you see on normal digital radios).

You may have heard about various other mobile TV services delivered OTA. The limitation of these offerings is the number of people who can simultaneously watch video in a given area. Mobile broadcast TV has no such limitations.

BT Movio ran a trial at the end of 2005 which revealed that, counter to expectations, a significant number of people used the service more often at home than on the move. In addition, they listened to radio services more than viewing TV (95 vs 66 minutes per week respectively), with an average viewing length of 22 minutes for radio vs 16 for TV. The arqiva / o2 trial of DVB-H reported that 70% of triallists expected digital radio as part of a commercial service. The movio trial results were proved accurate once the real service launched (to an admittedly small number of subscribers). I still maintain that this implementation was the best and most intuitive digital radio interface for a mobile device – a fully functional EPG used for primary navigation rather than a nice to have.

So it looks like digital radio, as well as TV will play a part in emerging mobile services, however the big question is will sufficient numbers of people want to watch TV on their mobile phone? And how many channels will they want access to? The answer so far seems to be that a straightforward port of linear tv to mobile isn’t quite as sexy as many people hoped.

If we look at the Korean experience, the big audience drivers are pretty much the same as we see in traditional TV – e.g. big sporting events and major breaking news – however, bespoke “made for mobile” channels are becoming more prevalent as the technology gains acceptance. One could also argue that in order to get across a simple compelling message to a new audience you have to go with what is familiar – i.e. watch what you normally watch, but at times and in places more convenient to you, and that bespoke “made for mobile” services will emerge as the market matures. One thing seems to be certain for now, mobile TV isn’t going to be the main reason people buy a phone for some time to come. Something much simpler, Bluetooth, is one of the most commonly desired features in handsets for the young – not for the technology but for what it allows – free transfer of audio, video and images without fear of prosecution…

From my experience of OTA mobile TV through the operator walled gardens and from my experience of (in)consistent service from my mobile wifi skype phone, I think we are a way off providing a consistent linear service via 3g or mobile internet. It just doesn’t work if you move around too much. Nomadic rather than truly portable consumption. Of course this will get better, but however much it improves there wil always be a need for a more complete offer.

I also think that we need to think about what really works in a live environment in two respects: Firstly, TV has a much more limited live portfolio than radio, secondly there’s no reason to separate TV from radio in the same channel, particularly if the radio is visualised (retaining audio primacy – rich man’s radio, not poor man’s TV)

The particular flavour of broadcast linear mobile TV right now seems to be favouring DVB-H in Europe, and DVB-H2 offers some interesting developments, moving ever closer to claude shannon’s theoretical maxima. However as far as digital radio goes, DVB-H and derivatives are based on a different set of standards with accompanying royalties and there would be huge efforts required to get a significant number of devices in the market at vaguely reasonable prices across all the situations in which people listen to radio. a “simple” swap over to a new technology for digital radio in all it’s forms is naive at best. T-DMB at least was a technology that allowed radio to come for free with mobile TV, not so for DVB-H. This is without even considering the complexity of the spectrum required (UHF vs Band III).

It will be interesting to see what happens with data tariffs OTA, and whether linear streaming over IP will be limited by the operators or seen as a way of encouraging use, and if so how soon MBMS will show it’s limitations – and let’s keep a following brief on wimax.

It’s not too far fetched to think of a mobile service that transparently allows sideloading and downloading of on demand audio and video content, access to broadcast linear mobile tv and/or radio, 3/4g/LTE or wifi/wimax access to niche linear channels and on demand content all through a simple, intuitive ESG that always offers you something you want AND is available regardless of the vagueries of network connectivity.