TV viewing on mobile devices is set to rocket in the next year.
THE ABC is set to steal a march on its commercial rivals when its popular catch-up
TV service is made available on iPhones within weeks, signalling in earnest the
beginning of the mobile TV revolution.
The corporation has confirmed it is putting the finishing touches to the technology of
its iview service that will enable the 3.7 million users of iPhones in Australia to watch
shows on the smallest of the four screens – computers, tablets, TVs and phones – used
to view TV content.
TV viewing on mobile devices is set to rocket in the next year as data plans for mobile
phones get larger and come down in price, thereby allowing people to watch TV on
the go.
TV streamed from the internet accounts for up to 12 per cent of total TV viewing,
media agency Mediacom estimates, and researcher Nielsen forecasts that by next
year six out of ten Australians will be sourcing TV from the internet.
ABC’s iview has been credited with driving the take-up of watching popular shows
and news clips online after they have gone to air. Last month, 4 million programs
were watched on the service, which is available via desktop computers and as an app
on devices like the iPad – a rise of 44 per cent on this time last year.
The television industry – in particular, the commercial free-to-air players – are
looking to mobile TV as the next ratings bonanza, topping up the 2.2 hours that we
spend each day watching TV rather than replacing it.
In the absence of any measurement, they are assuming that watching TV on catch-up
services is delivering them incremental audiences. For example, Channel Ten’s
drama Homeland has been getting 185,000 views on its service, adding to the 1.2
million that watched it on TV. The ABC’s The Slap enjoyed an extra 770,000 viewers
on iview beyond the network figure of 1.18 million.
But the question that remains unanswered is what people will be watching when they
are out and about.
Bryan Magee, a Mediacom director, said: ”We are entering into unknown territory
here. At the moment it lends itself to news and journalistic content as a lot of that
snacking takes place in people’s commute.”
Mr Magee predicts that as the TV networks secure more rights to make their
programs available on mobile devices, longer programs will follow.
The research director of the analysts Telsyte, Foad Fadaghi, said the ABC’s move to
produce an app for phones – which is an easier way for users to select and watch
videos – puts the commercial networks in the shade. Of the big three, only Ten can be
accessed on phones and tablets.
”I think [the commercial stations] still tend to see catch-up TV more as a marketing
vehicle to shift viewing back to the mainstream TV channel,” he said.
The network director of Ninemsn, Andrew Hunter, said that as soon as the medium
became commercially viable through selling of ads then more longer form programs
would be made available.
March 24, 2012