The number of people who watch TV on their mobile phones has dramatically increased over the past year, thanks to the success of on demand TV services such as 4oD, Demand Five and the BBC iPlayer.
Technology analysts are saying that this year will see more and more on demand television services being converted to mobile phones. The BBC is already converting its programs to a mobile phone friendly content, after the success of its iPlayer, which showed a staggering 271 million programs last year.
Other on demand TV service providers are thought to be looking at similar implementations, as the speed and availability of 3G networks, coupled with advanced mobile phones and screen sizes all improve.
The head of the BBC’s mobile and future media department, Richard Titus said: “My sense is that we are at a critical moment where the audience is finally ready to have video and radio content on the mobile.”
The current leader of mobile TV in the UK is BSkyB, which has been offering its service since 2005. It is a subscription based service, which offers live news feeds and sky sports news, as well as football highlights for around £5 a month. Sky Mobile currently has over 200,000 subscribers and 100,000 users who pay for individual content.
Recent figures suggest that 25% of UK phone users now use a 3G mobile phone to access the internet.
I find it really easy to watch the iplayer on the nokia n96. its not a strain on the eyes and the picture is very clear
rory 10th February 2009 @ 12:46