Fuzzy Reception for Mobile TV

Mobile TV viewing remains low in Europe and the U.S., but the rollout of mobile broadcast networks could boost usage.

Only 1 percent of mobile phone users across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the U.K. watched a video clip or commercial TV program on their mobile phone at least once in a month, according to M:Metrics Inc. 's most recent data for the three month period ending in August.

In the U.S., just 1.4 percent of mobile phone users say they view video clips or TV programs at least once per month, according to M:Metrics.
M:Metrics finds that the most popular mobile video content is user-generated videos sent by friends or family. In Europe, 4.2 percent of mobile users say they have watched this kind of video at least once per month, while 3.2 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers say they have watched these videos.

Early indications of users' experiences with these services is not terribly encouraging. According to a study conducted by the Mobile Entertainment Forum and LCC International Inc. , only 26 percent of mobile entertainment users are satisfied with their service. (See MEF Tackles Users and MEM Sizzles on the Riviera.)

Statistics from mobile operators themselves about their mobile TV services are hard to come by. Operators do not readily share much information how many mobile TV subscribers they have or how much revenue they make from content services.