Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/12/korea_mobile_tv_flop/
Even Koreans turn off mobile TV
Nobody's watching
Posted in Mobile, 12th August 2008 14:35 GMT
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Despite billions invested in turning mobile phones into pocket TV sets, the public continues to find it all a giant yawn. A study by TMC Media published earlier this month suggests that peak-time viewing of direct broadcast TV on phones in Korea barely exceeds the pollsters' margin of error.
TMC found that only 1.17 per cent of the mobile TV-equipped audience was watching - peaking at 3.58 per cent during the commute rush hour. Around 48 per cent of receivers are built into mobile phones.
Which begs the question - if the Koreans don't want mobile TV, then who does? Despite the cultural differences, Korea has long been viewed by the mobile industry as a fruitful laboratory. It's like discovering the British office workforce heading en masse to monasteries on Fridays at 5pm.
Yet this anecdote has bearing back home. Uber-regulator OFCOM's auction of valuable "L-Band" Spectrum (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/18/l_band_bidders/) saw Qualcomm grab the lot for only £8m. The mobile industry sounds a bullish note (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/18/cat_keynes_mobile_tv/) on mobile TV, despite evidence to the contrary (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/14/nokia_dvb_h/).
So Qualcomm parcels out the spectrum itself, and TV services launch and then flop. Couldn't they just have given us our spectrum (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/11/a_modest_public_service_proposal/) back to start with? ®