The Times: The 'mobisode', Hollywood's next frontier
By David Rowan
THE idea of a portable telephone the size of a briefcase must have seemed so funny in 1985 that Vodafone hired a comedian to make the first call in Britain on January 1. Who's laughing now?
In the 20 years since then the mobile phone has been transformed from a cumbersome, comical and impractical means of communication into an indispensable tool of modern life. Its versatility is such that you can use it to surf the internet, book theatre tickets, send photographs to your friends, read the news - and make telephone calls. And, if the mobile phone companies get their way, this year we will all be watching television on the move.
The phone networks now believe that custom-made TV and film clips will be the next mobile-phone money-spinner. Having invested billions of pounds in high-speed, "third generation" networks, they are eagerly striking deals with the film, television and music industries to provide video entertainment on demand. It is a huge gamble on our willingness to pay to watch tiny, flickering screens but, if the phone com panies are right, it could change our viewing habits for ever.
This month Vodafone will offer a customised phone version of the drama 24, with 24 one-minute "mobisodes" designed to accompany the TV version. The deal with the Fox Entertainment Group, whose parent company, News Corporation, owns The Times, also covers video trailers of Fox films.
Not to be outdone, 3, the rival service from Hutchison 3G, is working with television companies and record labels to offer "video entertainment on the move". Edward Brewster, a spokesman for 3, said: "There will be more TV-based content, so you'll be on the bus and sample a 90-second trailer of a show you might decide to watch tonight."
The company recently offered subscribers video out-takes and highlights of the ITV series The X Factor, as well as exclusive access to a 45-minute concert by the rock band Rooster. This year, it plans a big expansion to include customised comedy, sports and music clips.
Industry analysts have high hopes for the advent of what is being called "mobile television". The technology consultancy In-Stat recently predicted that video content could be the single biggest spur to 3G growth, generating almost £3 billion a year by 2009 in the US alone. Another consultancy, ABI Research, recently announced that mobile phone TV was definitely on the way, citing Vodafone's 24 "mobisodes" as the breakthrough.
Vodafone says that it expects great things of 24 in attracting new subscribers and generating revenue. It has not disclosed how much each episode will cost, but subscribers have paid 50p a day or £5 a month to watch its Premiership football service. "This is very much the tip of the iceberg," said Ben Taylor, a Vodafone spokesman. "With 3G allowing us to send much bigger files to handsets, video content is the big area that's poised for take-off."
The networks say that they have learnt from experience which programmes the phone viewers will or will not watch. At present Vodafone offers music videos, news from ITN and video weather and sport from Sky, as well as comedy such as Fawlty Towers.
But 3, which led the way in 2001 with an exclusive £35 million deal to show Premiership football, admits that not everything has worked as expected. Mr Brewster said: "We did a lot of research before launching, and people said they wanted to watch the news, yet we got there to find they were not interested they wanted to be entertained instead. So it's about keeping the content snappy, and offering short, punchy bursts of entertainment."
The content owners have the most to gain. Fox will share the revenue earned from Vodafone subscribers and will also benefit from the extra publicity for 24 and its films. The record label BMG will similarly take a share of 3's £1.50 fee when videos from Dido or Britney Spears are downloaded. Disney has been aggressively pursuing hundreds of alliances with mobile networks, initially to sell ringtones and character wallpapers, but increasingly for video clips.
Technological advances are likely to encourage this convergence of the phone and television industries. An emerging broadcasting standard, known as DVD-H, allows programmes to be sent to mobile phones over conventional digital television networks, offering the capacity to receive vast numbers of channels. Nokia plans to launch its first DVD-H "mobile TV" handsets next year.
There are, naturally, the sceptics who ask whether we will want to watch TV on the move. Clive Sinclair, they point out, brought out a "pocket TV" in 1977. It failed to catch on and was quietly withdrawn. Well, the advances in the technology since then tell their own story, and those in the industry are in no doubt where it is going. Mike Caldwell, Vodafone's corporate communications director, predicts that within 15 years most of us will be wearing a mobile phone bracelet.
(The Times, January 1 2005)
THE idea of a portable telephone the size of a briefcase must have seemed so funny in 1985 that Vodafone hired a comedian to make the first call in Britain on January 1. Who's laughing now?
In the 20 years since then the mobile phone has been transformed from a cumbersome, comical and impractical means of communication into an indispensable tool of modern life. Its versatility is such that you can use it to surf the internet, book theatre tickets, send photographs to your friends, read the news - and make telephone calls. And, if the mobile phone companies get their way, this year we will all be watching television on the move.
The phone networks now believe that custom-made TV and film clips will be the next mobile-phone money-spinner. Having invested billions of pounds in high-speed, "third generation" networks, they are eagerly striking deals with the film, television and music industries to provide video entertainment on demand. It is a huge gamble on our willingness to pay to watch tiny, flickering screens but, if the phone com panies are right, it could change our viewing habits for ever.
This month Vodafone will offer a customised phone version of the drama 24, with 24 one-minute "mobisodes" designed to accompany the TV version. The deal with the Fox Entertainment Group, whose parent company, News Corporation, owns The Times, also covers video trailers of Fox films.
Not to be outdone, 3, the rival service from Hutchison 3G, is working with television companies and record labels to offer "video entertainment on the move". Edward Brewster, a spokesman for 3, said: "There will be more TV-based content, so you'll be on the bus and sample a 90-second trailer of a show you might decide to watch tonight."
The company recently offered subscribers video out-takes and highlights of the ITV series The X Factor, as well as exclusive access to a 45-minute concert by the rock band Rooster. This year, it plans a big expansion to include customised comedy, sports and music clips.
Industry analysts have high hopes for the advent of what is being called "mobile television". The technology consultancy In-Stat recently predicted that video content could be the single biggest spur to 3G growth, generating almost £3 billion a year by 2009 in the US alone. Another consultancy, ABI Research, recently announced that mobile phone TV was definitely on the way, citing Vodafone's 24 "mobisodes" as the breakthrough.
Vodafone says that it expects great things of 24 in attracting new subscribers and generating revenue. It has not disclosed how much each episode will cost, but subscribers have paid 50p a day or £5 a month to watch its Premiership football service. "This is very much the tip of the iceberg," said Ben Taylor, a Vodafone spokesman. "With 3G allowing us to send much bigger files to handsets, video content is the big area that's poised for take-off."
The networks say that they have learnt from experience which programmes the phone viewers will or will not watch. At present Vodafone offers music videos, news from ITN and video weather and sport from Sky, as well as comedy such as Fawlty Towers.
But 3, which led the way in 2001 with an exclusive £35 million deal to show Premiership football, admits that not everything has worked as expected. Mr Brewster said: "We did a lot of research before launching, and people said they wanted to watch the news, yet we got there to find they were not interested they wanted to be entertained instead. So it's about keeping the content snappy, and offering short, punchy bursts of entertainment."
The content owners have the most to gain. Fox will share the revenue earned from Vodafone subscribers and will also benefit from the extra publicity for 24 and its films. The record label BMG will similarly take a share of 3's £1.50 fee when videos from Dido or Britney Spears are downloaded. Disney has been aggressively pursuing hundreds of alliances with mobile networks, initially to sell ringtones and character wallpapers, but increasingly for video clips.
Technological advances are likely to encourage this convergence of the phone and television industries. An emerging broadcasting standard, known as DVD-H, allows programmes to be sent to mobile phones over conventional digital television networks, offering the capacity to receive vast numbers of channels. Nokia plans to launch its first DVD-H "mobile TV" handsets next year.
There are, naturally, the sceptics who ask whether we will want to watch TV on the move. Clive Sinclair, they point out, brought out a "pocket TV" in 1977. It failed to catch on and was quietly withdrawn. Well, the advances in the technology since then tell their own story, and those in the industry are in no doubt where it is going. Mike Caldwell, Vodafone's corporate communications director, predicts that within 15 years most of us will be wearing a mobile phone bracelet.
(The Times, January 1 2005)
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