Orlando, Fla. -- Mobile television is still in its infancy in terms of being a factor in consumers’ buying decisions, according to executives from the top three mobile-phone providers in the United States on a panel discussion at the CTIA Wireless 2007 conference here Wednesday.
But there was one contrarian on the panel: Amp’d Mobile chief operating officer Bill Stone, who said video is driving a big portion of business for the specialized mobile service targeted toward young men.
Among the big carriers, the prevailing sentiment was that nearly all consumers still pick their wireless service based on voice services rather than video or other data services.
“Voice was, and still is, the killer app,” Verizon Wireless director of consumer-services business development Thom Russell said. “For videos, it’s still early in the market.”
Added Jim Ryan, vice president of consumer-data services for AT&T’s wireless division: “People are still predominantly making purchases based on the network, the phone, the pricing plan. Then they say, ‘What else you got?’”
Carriers will need to be better at educating consumers to grow revenues from mobile TV and other content services, Ryan said, adding, “It’s about getting people aware and into consumption behavior.”
Sprint Nextel director of wireless-data programs and marketing Alana Muller agreed that most consumers who walk into the company’s retail stores “are typically looking for a voice device.” But, she added, more than 50% are looking for some kind of data service, too, like music or video.
Sprint hired several marketing specialists to meet with sales agents and customer-service representatives to train those employees on selling data services, she said. But to elevate the status of video or music in the selling process “is going to take time because what resonates right now with consumers is ‘fewest dropped calls,’ ‘the most powerful network,’ etc.,” Muller added.
Meanwhile, Amp’d -- with backers including MTV Networks and Intel -- generates about $30 per month in average revenue per subscriber for data services, compared with about $7 for the industry at large, according to Stone. About 70% of that comes from content purchases, he added.
“For us, data is not just another application,” Stone said.
To be sure, Amp’d is a small fry: It had about 100,000 subscribers at the end of 2006, compared with 61 million for AT&T (formerly Cingular Wireless).
But for the 18- to 34-year-old male demographic that is the sweet spot for Amp’d, video is a big hit. The company -- which operates as a “virtual” carrier on top of Sprint’s network -- produces original TV programming for its service such as Lil’ Bush: Resident of the United States.
“Just repurposing content that you can watch at 8 p.m. on Tuesday night isn’t that interesting,” Stone said.
Original content represents 5% of the titles available on Amp’d but generates 30% of the consumption, he said, adding, “The key is having original and exclusive content.”
At one point, AT&T’s Ryan remarked to Stone, “I’d love to get Lil’ Bush for my customers.” Responded Stone: “We’re open for business.”
Not all TV content works on mobile phones, Stone added. Amp’d has told “a few big media companies” that their shows -- hits on linear TV -- weren’t performing well and were dropping out of the wireless lineup. “I can do an original show that I can produce for $10,000,” Stone said.
Which big-name shows have been yanked? “I’m not going to throw anybody under the bus,” Stone said, but he did say they’ve included well-known shows, some of which are available on Verizon’s V CAST on-demand service.
As for user-generated content, each of the panelists said the category represents a big opportunity for wireless carriers.
“Now you have individuals and small groups producing content, and individuals and small groups consuming content,” Ryan said. “Think about Saddam Hussein’s hanging being caught by a mobile phone … We need to be able to allow our users to orient to this new world.”
