54 Million Free-To-Air Analog Mobile TV Users Worldwide in 2009

There will be at least 300 million mobile TV users by 2013, representing a six-fold growth over the current 59 million ­user base - reports  a study carried out by In-Stat on bhealf of mobile TV vendor, Telegent Systems.

"The adoption of analog mobile TV handsets has been driven by the most powerful force in the mobile industry: consumers," said Frank Dickson, vice president of research at In-Stat. "Analog mobile TV has two very fundamental and compelling advantages - cost and availability. The infrastructure is already in place, there are no new standards that need to be enacted and the service is free to consumers - a very powerful combination."

How often is often?

• More than half of free-to-air analog mobile TV consumers surveyed reported watching mobile TV at least three times a week, with 20% of respondents in all regions watching daily. In some geographies, 40% or more watched daily.
• Approximately two-thirds of respondents reported viewing mobile TV for thirty minutes or more on the days that they watched TV, dispelling the notion that it will ultimately be a vehicle for "TV snacking" when away from home.

Familiar content anywhere

• While news and sports were popular among mobile TV viewers, most favored a mix of program types.
• Popular use cases for watching mobile TV included while in transit, while at home and during breaks at work. In Indonesia, where traffic is notoriously bad, the "in-transit" use case predominated. Mobile TV has arrived

Global mobile TV adoption is being led by consumers in developing markets with mobile TV typically offered as a free feature in low-cost and mid-tier handsets. This approach provides consumers with mobile access to the same live programming that they view on conventional television sets, delivering a truly converged device experience.

Expands mobile TV availability globally

More than 85% of the world's population will continue to have access to analog signals for the next several years or longer. In-Stat expects free-to-air analog mobile TV to do well in countries which have not yet formulated plans for digital TV, or if they have, in countries where analog will remain for more than five years. In-Stat also observes that there are large numbers of consumers living in geographies where the average subscriber doesn't have the resources to pay for subscription-based mobile TV or for the data services that support over-the-top video.

"In-Stat's research findings help to validate our statement to the marketplace that analog mobile TV is a very compelling content offering to a wireless operator's subscriber base and to consumers," said Telegent CEO Weijie Yun. "The success of free-to-air mobile TV is the result of two primary drivers: 1) content - the fact that the content that consumers view is the same broadcast as what they watch on conventional TV and 2) the universal coverage enabling consumers to watch it in almost every corner around the world."

To download In-Stat's free white paper, please visit: http://www.instat.com/promos/09/mobiletv.asp

Posted to the site on 19th August 2009