New opportunities for the mobile TV service providers: growing video consumption and user demands

SPB TV is ready to introduce the results of SPB TV Survey 2012. The goal of the Survey was to discover the main tendencies in mobile TV viewing and to examine consumers’  habits, expectations and concerns. Therefore the survey was mainly targeted at the mobile TV users and people interested in this topic.

What do the subscribers value more or less, which of the providers’ efforts do they disregard and which do they find insufficient? What TV content do the consumers want to see, what functionality do they appreciate and of course are they ready to pay for the service or premium content subscription, and how much? These are the highlights of the SPB TV questionnaire.

With the help of famous online magazines (All About Symbian, Cool Smartphone, Mobile TV World and others) and involving the subscribers of the SPB TV mobile app, as well as SPB TV fans on Facebook and Twitter, the survey polled 47 000 respondents from different countries and continents.

Age

Gender

What is the operating system of your current mobile device?

SPB TV Survey uncovered that mobile TV subscribers use the service on absolutely all existing mobile operating systems including even feature phones. So it’s crucial for the mobile TV provider to cover all platforms, instead of focusing on major ones, like iOS and Android. The Symbian OS still leaves the competitors far behind (46% of total amount); and the usage of Windows Phone 7 platform is growing. Besides 5% of respondents use feature phones and also want to have an access to the mobile TV service.

Does your mobile carrier provide Mobile TV service?

The majority of the respondents (60%) are aware of the mobile TV service given by their telecom provider though not all of them prefer to use that one; 23% have chosen another service. Still it depends on the region. For example 70% of respondents from India use the mobile TV service provided by the carrier, while just 39% of mobile TV consumers in Brazil know about the availability of such service, and 12% of them preferred an alternative mobile TV application. However we can draw a conclusion that the amount the telcos providing mobile TV as a value adding service is increasing, and so is the competition in this field. Mobile users are likely to choose the mobile TV with the highest QoS.

How long do you usually watch Mobile TV uninterruptedly?

The average duration of watching TV on mobile devices became perhaps the most surprising result. There is a common opinion that mobile TV is not as convenient to watch as in-home TV on TV-set or even desktop, and people simply fill in the time gaps, playing mobile TV for several minutes. This hypothesis was disproved by SPB TV Survey respondents, 36% of which assert they usually watch TV on their mobile devices over 30 minutes uninterruptedly. 23% say they normally play it for 20 to 30 minutes, and 22% have chosen the “10-20 minutes” option. Just 6% of the participants affirm that they usually spend no more than 5 minutes watching it.

We can assume that Mobile TV has become a convenient service which is even capable to replace traditional TV for some people. This is supposition is strengthened by 60% of respondents saying they mostly watch mobile TV at home.

Where do you usually watch Mobile TV? (Several answers are possible)

How often do you watch TV on your mobile devices?

The majority of respondents (39%) watch mobile TV several times a day, another 27% of mobile TV viewers address the service several times a week. They survey discovered that people spend plenty of time watching TV on their portable devices.

What connection do you use to watch Mobile TV? Several answers are possible.

How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the Mobile TV service that you use?

34% and 32% of respondents accordingly are very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the mobile TV service they receive, and this can be estimated as a very positive result. Just 2% of the participants said they are very dissatisfied with their mobile TV. Thus the users display loyalty to the service, which may be very encouraging for the provider.

Rank the following features of the Mobile TV service according to their importance to you.

Estimating a mobile TV service users take into account a whole range of factors. The survey uncovered that most of all mobile TV subscribers appreciate such features as freedom to shift between different types of internet connections: Wi-Fi, 3G, Edge, LTE, etc. (57% of the respondents find this feature crucial); quality of video provided (50%), price of the service (49%), availability of local channels (44%), and general amount of channels (43%). Usability of application is also a very important factor - just 4% of the respondents don’t pay attention to this factor.

People are still not used to such features of mobile TV application as availability of premium TV channels and social network integration, but still for 57% of respondents premium content matters, and just 14% disregard it. As for integration with social accounts, 23% of the participants find this function crucial. And we are sure this number is going to grow.

Rank the following categories of TV channels according to how interesting they are for you.

As for the content preferred, Movies&Series is the users’ favorite channel category all over the world, for both live and on-demand TV. 60% of respondents say it’s very interesting for them to watch such content on their mobile devices, and 69% of the participants named Movies their preferred video-on-demand content. Travel&Discovery TV programs and News are almost as popular as the leader-category. Fashion&Lifestyle shows have beaten all other options as “not interesting at all” (43%). Channels for kids are also not very appreciated by the mobile TV viewers.

Would you like to watch Video on Demand content (pre-loaded video clips) on your mobile device, and what exactly?

How much do you pay for the Mobile TV per month (including subscription and internet traffic)?

After all, “Will the subscriber pay?” stays a crucial question. For several years mobile users have been watching mobile TV for free, 65% of respondents answered they pay nothing for the mobile TV they watch, including even internet traffic consumed. And still the time to monetize the service has come, as it is gaining popularity and the sphere is becoming highly compatible. According to the survey, wide choice of channels, especially local or translated ones, appears to be a crucial parameter for the subscriber. 51% of the respondents stated that they would subscribe to premium content of their interest if made available through mobile TV. So the paid subscription seems to be a promising way of monetization.

How much do you pay for the Mobile TV per month (including subscription and internet traffic)?

After all,

Would you subscribe to premium content of your interest if made available through mobile TV?

How much are you ready to pay for Mobile TV service per month (including subscription and internet traffic)?

28% of respondents are ready to pay $1-5 for the mobile TV service per month (all expenses included). This option was popular in such countries, as Russia (33%), France (27%), Germany (38%), China (40%) and Brazil (31%). In some countries people find it fair to pay $5-10 for watching TV channels of their choice on their mobile devices, this answer was given by the participants from the USA (29%), Argentina (27%) and Spain (40%). Still in several regions most of consumers don’t want to spend on the service more than $1 per month, among them India (41%), Saudi Arabia (36%) and Turkey (67%).

What would be the most convenient subscription period for you?

48% of those people who are willing to pay for the mobile TV service choose 1 month as the most convenient subscription period, while 22% would subscribe for even a longer time. And this is definitely another proof of the consumers’ loyalty to the service.

Mark the following devices according to how often you use them for watching TV.

The Multiscreen TV has already become a trend for the TV providers but still hasn’t reached the majority of the subscribers, though this strategy definitely has its grounds. 56% of respondents not only watch TV on mobile phones, but do that often; 30% marked the same frequency of TV usage for desktop, and 43% - for the Internet connected TV set. The option “Often” beats all other alternatives (“Sometimes” and “Never”) in every category (device type), except of “Tablets”. It means that people tend to take the benefit out of each video-enabled device.

On which of the following devices are you subscribed to pay TV channels?

Speaking of paid TV subscriptions, the SPB TV Survey respondents have those mostly on mobile devices (40%), as well as on cable (24%) and satellite TV (15%). It may be because of different virtues of these devices: smartphone’s mobility and TV-set’s big screen with high resolution.

Would you like to use a Multiscreen TV service from a single TV provider, available on all your devices and offering unified subscription settings?

51% of respondents want to try a unified multiscreen TV service, while 18% said they are already using it. These numbers though may significantly vary depending on the country, as multiscreen TV services are already in current use in Brazil (56% of respondents), Spain (44%), China (48%), etc. Anyway the survey has demonstrated the potential of such offer and the perspectives for the service providers to leverage their networks by implementing the TV service available on all screens.

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