Call it “TV 3.0.” Sandhi Kozsuch does. He’s the director of mobile broadcasting for Cox Media Group and has been a longtime online digital video guy. (And longtime LR pal.) Speaking at the Borrell Associates Local Online Advertising Conference in New York City, Kozsuch, who works with the Pearl consortium that is developing mobile digital television strategies, points out how this next phase has evolved.
TV 1.0, said Kozsuch, was TV station to TV set. It was all about the transmitter and the antenna.
TV 2.0, he added, incorporated cable and satellite.
TV 3.0 has so much more. There are the old methods, plus Mobile DTV, platforms like Apple TV and Google TV and online video. And whatever else will come up in the next year that we haven’t even considered. Kozsuch says “This represents a big change, it’s a big difference in the way people consume television.”
It also represents a big difference in the way TV finds the money. And finding the money is where Mobile DTV stands right now. There are no proven methods. There is a lot of testing going on. There aren’t quick and easy answers.
Sound familiar?
Anne Schelle, the executive director of the Open Mobile Video Coalition, has looked into the numbers. Her group has more than 30 broadcasters and has some insights into how people will consume mobile video. The OMVC did a test in Washington DC, and found that people are more open to mobile DTV than you may think. Local news was highly valued among users. People were watching from work (because their employers were blocking web video),
People were even watching Mobile DTV in the bathroom. Don’t pretend you haven’t done that with your smartphone…
Schelle says the result of the DC testing showed something we’ve known about web video for a long time: daytime is primetime. The biggest audience was watching from noon until five p.m.
And then there’s this: Mobile DTV viewing appears to be additive to traditional TV viewing. 38% of those in the pilot said they were watching more TV.
Fisher Communications Senior Vice President Randa Minkarah added that her company’s testing is already lending insight into what people are willing to spend for Mobile DTV. Minkarah says, while there’s no consensus number yet, it appears people will spend about a dollar per month. Still, she points out, “We have to have a sustaining business model.”
The good news for stations is that getting onboard Mobile DTV isn’t all that hard nor expensive. The stations are essentially repurposing their signal. Unlike with the web, the development is incremental. Will it pay off? The experts on the panel are optimistic but admit it’s a work in progress.