Mobile Multimedia Content Under Spotlight At IBC

Trends in the consumption of multimedia content on mobile devices will be put under the spotlight in the Business Briefing programme from 8 - 9 September at IBC 2007.
According to mobile media research firm M:Metrics, 0.8% of European mobile phone subscribers - over 1.7 million individuals - tuned into mobile TV services at least once a month during an average month in Q2 this year. Paul Goode, Senior Vice President and Senior Analyst at M:Metrics said: "While it is early days in the development of this new sector, most mobile operators in the EU now offer programmed TV over their 3G or EDGE (2.5G) networks and are beginning to attract a sizable number of regular viewers."
Front-runner among the five biggest markets of the EU is Italy, where the first DVB-H mobile broadcast networks have heightened awareness of mobile TV. A little over a year after the services launched, just under 450,000 people - around one percent of all mobile users in Italy - already use own a DVB-H capable handset. More than 31% of users with a DVB-H handset tuned in during June 2007 and over half of these did so at least once a week.
In contrast to services such as ringtones and game downloads, the market for mobile broadcast viewing is currently skewed towards young male users. The gender gap is quite pronounced - 70% of broadcast TV viewers are men and only 30% women - while 18-24 year old men are four times as likely to watch than older men. The number of female viewers is spread across all age groups more evenly.
M:Metrics will provide a more in-depth exploration of multimedia content consumption, look at the pricing of mobile TV packages and provide a more detailed examination of the Italian market in its Business Briefing at 09.30 on 9 September.
"Mobile TV continues to be a hot topic in both the mobile and broadcast industries," said M:Metrics Goode.
"If mobile TV is to achieve its full potential, all parties need to understand the current state of the market and where the opportunities lie. Our Business Briefing will provide some invaluable insight."
In other free-admission Business Briefings, National Grid Wireless and Qualcomm MediaFLO will explore business models for broadcasting to mobiles, while Thomson, weComm and S3 will examine the impact of service provider technology choices on business case and user experience and Ericsson will consider the role of mobile TV in the new world of TV2.0.
Producing and presenting content for mobile and converged services will be addressed by Snell & Willcox and Bluestreak while National Grid Wireless will consider the role of WiMAX as a platform for mobile TV in the future. Signiant, Thomson and Nagravision will look at the some of the challenges and opportunities related to multimedia delivery across mobile and other platforms such as IPTV.
IBC's dedicated Mobile Zone provides a unique opportunity for application developers, content providers and technology companies to showcase their capabilities in this important emerging fields. Live DVB-H, MediaFLO and WiMAX demonstration broadcasts will be available throughout the Mobile Zone and elsewhere in the RAI conference and exhibition centre. Mobile will also be a key thread throughout the Digital Lifestyles theme day in the IBC Conference on Saturday 8 September.
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, IBC has evolved from its roots in terrestrial broadcasting to become the leading international event for professionals involved in the creation, management and delivery of entertainment, sports and news content worldwide.
"Through the Mobile Zone, Business Briefings and the Digital Lifestyles day in the IBC Conference, IBC 2007 provides numerous opportunities for the broadcast and telecom sectors to understand the reality of the mobile multimedia opportunity," said Mike Crimp, Marketing Director of IBC.
(DS/SP)