Old mobile-TV service silos are being superseded by more holistic cross-platform offerings, with portable access to video increasingly bundled as part of a wider multi-screen package. Improved network capacity and hence mobile broadband speeds have improved the mobile-TV and video user experience, as has the use of smartphones, which are evolving into a handheld alternative to a TV set-top box. The rising tide of tablet devices will help further transform and proliferate mobile video consumption and interactivity.
The app store model drives adoption and usage as well as distribution
The pace of change in the service landscape owes much to the advent of application stores as both a retail channel and a means of content distribution. The application store business model has facilitated content owners’ expansion into D2C distribution as well as the ability of pay-TV operators to develop their own mobile offerings. This telco-agnostic model works for both mobile and fixed broadband distribution, hence the rapid growth of downloadable iOS and Android applications enabling portable access to pay-TV operators’ multi-screen propositions as well as content providers’ online offerings.
As well as bridging the gap between the computer and the TV set, tablets are also the logical next step in the evolution of the smartphone as a set-top box. On top of their multimedia capabilities, they function as both a TV companion and a supplementary viewing device, providing new opportunities for content providers and applications developers.
Given their ability to provide a more compelling and complete portable alternative than smartphones to the main living room screen (and STB), tablets present a greater disruptive challenge to traditional TV.
YouTube accounts for a substantial proportion of video traffic over the mobile web, with shared clips of both UGC and professional content remaining the most common mobile video category, although user-generated content has yet to be developed into an effective monetization opportunity.
Closely linked with viral clip sharing is the social TV concept, which is becoming core to the online video experience. But the range of applications supporting this kind of interactivity on mobile platforms remains largely confined to those enabling content to be shared across social networks.