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PR Mobile TV? European consumers say... maybe

Results from a survey of 2,000 European consumers by market leading industry analyst firm Canalys indicate that half have no interest in watching any kind of TV on a mobile phone, even if the service was free.

"We spoke to employed consumers across France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK," Adrian Drozd, Canalys Senior Analyst commented, "and the results are essential reading for any operator thinking of launching a mobile TV service. The research highlights that certain demographics are far more open to the concept of mobile TV, making it crucial that marketing budgets are invested carefully and targeted at those consumers most likely to consider subscribing to a service."

The findings highlight three potentially attractive mobile TV customer segments:

The pay-TV subscriber: consumers that take pay-TV services (54% of those surveyed) are more open to the concept of mobile TV, with many expecting access to the full range of channels that they receive at home.

The heavy/active mobile user: mobile TV appeals to two-thirds of those regularly spending over EUR60 per month on their mobile phone subscription. Users of mobile download services such as games, music and ringtones are also far more open to the concept of mobile TV.

The Generation 2.0er: 73% of consumers that regularly use MySpace and 70% of frequent YouTube viewers would consider using a mobile TV service.

"The results also show that interest in mobile TV across Europe varies greatly," Drozd continues. "At present, Spain appears to be a strong potential market for mobile TV, with almost 66% of respondents interested in the concept. In contrast, just 44% of German and 41% of French respondents would consider using a mobile TV service."

In terms of pricing, 47% of those European consumers that expressed interest in mobile TV would consider EUR10 per month reasonable value for money, but 36% would consider it too expensive at this point.

"Interestingly, price sensitivity varies considerably by country," Drozd continues. "35% of UK respondents think that EUR15 per month would be a reasonable price to pay for a compelling mobile TV service, but only 15% of French and German consumers agree."

The research findings also suggest that mobile operators will need to develop a broad range of content partnerships and charging models, and there is unlikely to be one type of killer content for mobile TV. Over half (56%) of those respondents open to the idea of mobile TV said that they would watch live TV events, such as sports or reality shows. In demographic terms, 66% of men would watch live TV events compared with 45% of women. Content length is seemingly not relevant, but quality certainly is.

Hot stats:

Of those respondents interested in the concept of mobile TV:

About Canalys' Digital Entertainment service

Digital Entertainment Analysis is a continuous advisory service focusing on EMEA's consumer technology and content delivery markets. Through regular reports and direct analyst contact, Canalys examines and advises on the issues facing service providers, vendors and content providers targeting opportunities across the sector. It looks at the key market trends, business models, technology developments and end-user adoption of digital platforms and content-based services.

About Canalys

Canalys specialises in delivering high quality market data, analysis and advice to the world's leading technology providers. It is recognised as a key supplier of continuous advisory services and confidential custom projects for marketing managers and strategists within blue-chip IT, telecoms and consumer electronics companies. It has unrivalled expertise in European routes to market for all kinds of high technology products and services, and provides worldwide market data and trends analysis.

See http://www.canalyschannelsforum.com/page.asp?id=1