With the advent of 3G, the adoption of mobile TV is set to experience a huge growth in the next few years, experts say. This, in turn, can lead to attractive business opportunities for the media & entertainment (M&E) sector. ABI Research reveals that the mobile TV market worldwide is expected to attract over 50 crore viewers in the next five years.
Omar Javaid, VP, business development, Qualcomm MediaFLO Technologies told FE, ?Mobile TV is an extension of the M&E industry. The personal and interactive nature of mobile phones will create new forms of interactive content consumption. Furthermore, mobile TV will not be limited to mobile phones but will be expanded to various form factors like in-car television, personal media players, etc.?
As per Ficci, in the short term, mobile TV services in India are likely to have limited penetration as only a small portion of mobile owners have handsets which allow live video streaming. In the years to come, mobile TV on 3G as compared to 2.5/2.75G will see a different route in the M&E industry, as 3G is much faster and provides better services as compared to 2.5G. Ashok Wahi, head strategic initiatives, Aksh Optifibre Ltd. told FE, ?Considering the video to be the most popular medium of entertainment viewed by consumers, experiencing mobile TV on 3G delivers more clarity with higher resolution as compared to the current 2.5/2.75G.? Amalgamation of broadcast mobile TV platforms with emerging personalised and interactive mobile services over 3G will unlock greater opportunity for wireless operators and mobile broadcasters.
?Mobile TV currently at a nascent stage will reach out to a large number of consumers by giving them a taste of a ubiquitous screen before the explosion of 3G. But with 3G, the current active and non-active mobile TV users will be able to increase their access both in terms of the number of screens and opportunity to consume. This makes M&E available anytime, anywhere as it brings the advantages of digital media over physical medium. Mobile TV will occupy a small share of eye-balls, from the other mediums of entertainment and will go on to be a mainstream medium,? added Jai Maroo, director, Shemaroo Entertainment.
For a steady source of revenues, content creators will also adopt a different outlook by providing TV programmes, videos, and movies for the young generation and distributing it across mobile TV.