A 21st century vision of new media at the next Olympics and the role of the mobile phone.
In 1992, the Olympics moved into the internet age, partnering with NBC and its affiliates stations, posting footage and still pictures of events on a website. Pandora's Box was opened. With the internet age, people now have more choices on how they want to watch not only sporting events, but world events. I want to talk about how people will watch some of the Olympic events with the next games.
Over the last three Olympics, as technology raced ahead and computers and other personal digital assistants (PDAs) evolved, the Olympic experience for viewers has evolved. The advent of pay per view and Tivo mean that no longer do people have to watch events on their television sets. Nor do they have to watch events at one particular time, or coverage of one particular event. Technology has freed people to be able to watch what they want, when they want it, and to pick and choose what events they want to watch.
Another interesting evolution in television is people either have the big screen TV in their homes (more like movie screen sized TVs) or they want TV on their mobile phones, which means a tiny screen. Things are going in the opposite direction and much like life, the middle is vanishing.
But back to the Olympics. I went to see the next technological innovation in television at the AT&T site. But when I went to the AT&T site to see the Olympic demo, nothing happened. The overall mobile TV demo piece was interesting, and the pricing and details were all there. I even went to an AT&T store on Sunday and you can only download video clips of TV shows - no Olympic clips. Could this be false advertising? Download Olympic clips, but maybe everywhere except in the US?
For the Beijing games, NBC has live blogging (unheard of three years ago), 3,000 hours of highlights on demand, daily recaps and analysis, and even fantasy league gaming. That is in addition to the 1,400 hours of coverage planned on six television networks - more than the combined total of every other previous Summer Olympics. The catch for NBC is that no events scheduled on television will be available online until after they are seen on TV. Sponsors are super happy since they lose no advertising exposure to the mobile phones. Wide online access to events will be available from NBC. (1)
With a more technologically savvy generation, more people rely on PDAs to do everything, including watching TV. Nanotechnology has come so far so fast, that we not only have to worry about people talking and driving or walking cluelessly through the streets on their mobiles, now we have to worry about people watching TV on their mobiles, while talking and driving or walking! People have already proven their complete ignorance and stupidity by talking and driving. Laws have had to be created because no-one has common sense not to talk and drive! I live in fear of yet another *distracted driver phenomenon* - watching the boob tube while driving.
But enough ranting, I want to briefly look at the technology in four areas:
- Technology's ability to transmit content
- Technology's ability to measure viewership/downloads of Olympic events
- As technology advances, does the cost for viewing events go down? the pay per view concept
- An aging population
Transmission
Obviously, transmission of data is key for any video event to be viewed on any PDA. Up until recently, the wireless technology had not grown fast enough to handle extremely large amounts of data such as live video. However, with the arrival of what is called 3G phones (third generation cell phones) such as the iPod, the bandwidth problem appears to be resolved. However, just because you have a 3G phone, does not mean your provider has the transmission system to get you the signal. This is particularly true in developing countries where mobile technology and the awarding of licenses has not developed as fast as in developed countries. An article at the Global Technology Forum goes into this issue in more detail. (2)
Then there is the live content issue. If an event goes live on a mobile phone, what about the censors? What if someone swears? What if someone protests during the live broadcast? Is this breaking free speech? Does free speech apply since the Olympics are a global event? Would there be a 5 second delay in the *live transmission*? Who would regulate the blooper button? There is no live TV anymore, except possibly sports, and sports sometimes provides the best impromtu entertainment. Who can forget the people who streak across the fields? The flashers in the stands, the kid who was bored and made faces while Bush was speaking? These are priceless video moments......
Sponsors/Ad Revenue
TV is a gold mine for sponsors. Billions of dollars are spend on commercial air time, let alone product placement among athletes and endorsements by athletes. How does mobile TV generate income for sponsors? Sports related content has already been identified as one of the primary reasons for mobile TV. Think of the Red Sox, the Patriots wins and parades. On a global scale, the 2006 World Cup put mobile TV on the map. According to US based telecom consultants Telephia, who studied mobile phone use during this event, European subscribers used the service on a limited basis - less than 5% of mobile TV subscribers. However, the low intake was due to the expense of watching the action on the mobile, and secondly, a weak broadcast signal that hampered delivery to 3G network phones. The Beijing Olympics was projected to bring in almost 10 million mobile TV subscribers. The jury is still out on how this service has been working. Considering US mobile phones cannot see Olympic content, it will be interesting to see which countries have the most mobile TV subscribers.
TV is a gold mine for sponsors. Billions of dollars are spend on commercial air time, let alone product placement among athletes and endorsements by athletes. How does mobile TV generate income for sponsors? Sports related content has already been identified as one of the primary reasons for mobile TV. Think of the Red Sox, the Patriots wins and parades. On a global scale, the 2006 World Cup put mobile TV on the map. According to US based telecom consultants Telephia, who studied mobile phone use during this event, European subscribers used the service on a limited basis - less than 5% of mobile TV subscribers. However, the low intake was due to the expense of watching the action on the mobile, and secondly, a weak broadcast signal that hampered delivery to 3G network phones. The Beijing Olympics was projected to bring in almost 10 million mobile TV subscribers. The jury is still out on how this service has been working. Considering US mobile phones cannot see Olympic content, it will be interesting to see which countries have the most mobile TV subscribers.
Viewership cost
Integrated Media Measurement Inc. says it can measure subscriber viewership. But the mobile carrier Telstra has beaten IMM to the punch. Telstra is the official mobile carrier of the Olympics. Paid Olympics packages with Telstra service include live streams of events for $9.95 for the Games; $3.95 for a single day; and a one off video is $0.50 to view. A bargain! Telstra management says as of August 14, 2008, its subscriber base had doubled to 4.4 million subscribers from June to August and grew 70% from August 2007 to August 2008.
Telecom providers could be salivating over this because mobile TV is premium content and premium content equals additional revenue. If mobile users can be persuaded to pay for a service they can get for free at home, the telecom business will be sitting in clover. But will consumers be satisfied having to sit through commercials? Commercials are already being used on sites like Comedy Central where you have to sit through a 15 -30 second ad before the main content shows up. People are trapped at movie theatres having to watch commercials before movies. There are no mute buttons or remote comtrol at the movies! How will advertisers measure *success* as far as people seeing their ads? What do you charge for spot on a mobile phone television broadcast? Do the rates go down? Are the rates higher since less people will see it? How do you satisfy the Olympic sponsors as the trend toward mobile TV barrels ahead?
Integrated Media Measurement Inc. says it can measure subscriber viewership. But the mobile carrier Telstra has beaten IMM to the punch. Telstra is the official mobile carrier of the Olympics. Paid Olympics packages with Telstra service include live streams of events for $9.95 for the Games; $3.95 for a single day; and a one off video is $0.50 to view. A bargain! Telstra management says as of August 14, 2008, its subscriber base had doubled to 4.4 million subscribers from June to August and grew 70% from August 2007 to August 2008.
Telecom providers could be salivating over this because mobile TV is premium content and premium content equals additional revenue. If mobile users can be persuaded to pay for a service they can get for free at home, the telecom business will be sitting in clover. But will consumers be satisfied having to sit through commercials? Commercials are already being used on sites like Comedy Central where you have to sit through a 15 -30 second ad before the main content shows up. People are trapped at movie theatres having to watch commercials before movies. There are no mute buttons or remote comtrol at the movies! How will advertisers measure *success* as far as people seeing their ads? What do you charge for spot on a mobile phone television broadcast? Do the rates go down? Are the rates higher since less people will see it? How do you satisfy the Olympic sponsors as the trend toward mobile TV barrels ahead?
An aging viewership
It happens to the best of us.... age. I know that my hands are not getting smaller, and my eyes are not getting better, but technology is getting smaller
and smaller. Buttons are made for baby hands, and the screens..... being able to see details? Who needs to see the details? It's like trying to read the fine print on the warranty. Who reads that - it's so small.
Talk about scale. Will a magnifying glass come with the mobile television phones? The phone on the left is about the size of the current mobile phone. While the picture is generally viewable, I cannot see the text! I need my big screen TV for that text. I can see a generation of furrowed foreheads and creeping crows feet as the youngins squint to watch mobile TV.
and smaller. Buttons are made for baby hands, and the screens..... being able to see details? Who needs to see the details? It's like trying to read the fine print on the warranty. Who reads that - it's so small.Talk about scale. Will a magnifying glass come with the mobile television phones? The phone on the left is about the size of the current mobile phone. While the picture is generally viewable, I cannot see the text! I need my big screen TV for that text. I can see a generation of furrowed foreheads and creeping crows feet as the youngins squint to watch mobile TV.
But among the discussion, my hero comes through! I agree with Stephen and think the future of the iPhone may not be the size of a UHaul, but issues of scale and readibility with an aging, yet technologically savvy public will be an issue.
(1) www.tmcnet.com, NBC Offers Wide Online Access for Beijing Olympics, June 28, 2008.
(2) www.globaltechforum.eiu.com , Global Technology Forum, Best Practice, Olympic Trials for Mobile TV, from The Economist Intelligence Unit, August 3, 2007.
No comments:
Post a Comment