World Cup to kick start mobile TV

28.8bn punters can't be wrong...

By John Oates • Get more from this author

Posted in Mobile, 7th June 2006 12:28 GMT

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Analyst house Informa reckons the World Cup will be a big boost to awareness of mobile TV, but expects widespread uptake won't happen until some time between the 2008 Olympics and the 2010 World Cup.

Informa principal analyst Dave McQueen said: "Fifa reckons 28bn* people watched the last World Cup so this is a massive opportunity for operators to showcase their broadcast technology."

He said the lack of a significant time difference means mobile TV will have less impact this time round - "the matches are in the afternoon and evening so we'll be in the pub".

Despite this, Informa predicts the operators will bring in some €300m in revenues from streaming and broadcast during the World Cup.

Informa believes content providers will get the lion's share of revenue split because it is exclusive content that will drive early adoption. They describe two main formats for content - "mobisodes" which are versions of successful TV shows created specifically for mobiles (you can get mini-episodes of Coronation Street on your phone for instance), and "Simulcast" where programmes from traditional telly are re-broadcast for mobiles.

McQueen forecasts that some content providers could become Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNO). "Sky is in a great position to become a MVNO."

The report is published later this month. More from Informa here.

* This is cumulative total of viewers over the whole 25 days of the competition. More details here.®

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