US Mobile Video Audience Growing
The US audience for mobile video is growing at an impressive rate, according to the latest figures from M:Metrics. At eight million in August, the total audience for those who viewed mobile video, either from the carrier deck or video content sent by a friend or family member, grew by 34% from January of this year.With 6.8 million viewers, viral video is the most popular type of video content in the US, said M:Metrics, a figure that increased by 36% since January. The audience viewing programmed mobile video, meaning video content delivered on-deck over the carrier network, stands at 2.7 million, up 28 percent from the beginning of the year.
| U.S. Mobile Video Usage: August 2007 | |||
| Frequency | Subscribers | Percent mobile subscribers | |
| Watched mobile TV and/or video | Almost every day | 726,910 | 0.30% |
| At least once each week | 1,994,419 | 0.90% | |
| Once to three times throughout the month | 5,309,822 | 2.50% | |
| Ever in month | 8,031,152 | 3.70% | |
| Watched programmed mobile TV and/or video | Almost every day | 345,959 | 0.20% |
| At least once each week | 877,886 | 0.40% | |
| Once to three times throughout the month | 1,686,234 | 0.80% | |
| Ever in month | 2,910,079 | 1.40% | |
| Watched video sent by family or friends | Almost every day | 592,754 | 0.30% |
| At least once each week | 1,572,819 | 0.70% | |
| Once to three times throughout the month | 4,676,819 | 2.20% | |
| Ever in month | 6,842,392 | 3.20% | |
| Source: M:Metrics, Inc., Copyright © 2007. Survey of mobile subscribers. Data based on three-month moving average for period ending 31st August 2007, mobile subscribers in United States, n = 33,271 | |||
“Clearly, there is the foundation of a market for premium paid video content, which underlies the potentially much more substantial opportunity for free ad supported material.”
Those who are tuning into mobile TV watch short-format or news-related content. Music videos are the most popular genre of on-demand TV content, followed by movie trailers, weather and sports. Still an early-adopter market, the audience skews toward young males. With 9.7% of 18-24-year-olds watching mobile video, this group is more than two and a half times more likely to watch video of some kind on their mobile device.
| Genre of content watched by on-demand mobile TV viewers in the US, ranked in popularity: August 2007 | |
| Genre of video content | % video audience watching |
| Music videos | 34.80% |
| Movie trailers | 29.00% |
| Weather information | 25.70% |
| Sports action or news | 25.70% |
| Comedy videos | 25.10% |
| Local/National/World News | 22.90% |
| Entertainment/Celebrity News | 22.50% |
| Animations or cartoons | 18.80% |
| TV highlights | 17.70% |
| Amateur video clips | 17.40% |
| Full TV/film | 15.30% |
| *excludes those who don’t know/don’t remember | |
| Source: M:Metrics, Inc., Copyright © 2007. Survey of mobile subscribers. Data based on three-month moving average for period ending 31st August 2007, mobile subscribers in United States, n = 33,271 | |
McAteer added: “The sizable growth of operator-programmed mobile TV in the United States, where the audience has expanded by 28 percent from January to August 2007, is due to the aggressive promotion of these services, broader diffusion of 3G handsets and a deeper focus from content companies.
“Sprint’s performance is particularly noteworthy, as the carrier’s subscribers comprise more than 36 percent of the total audience for programmed video. Its early entry into mobile video combined with its support of a multitude of video-capable handsets continues to pay dividends.”
Mobile TV was one of the subjects up for discussion at the recent MediaTel Group seminar on the ‘Future Of TV’, with many saying that it has been a disappointing start for the platform, with less than expected take-up and broadcasters seemingly disillusioned with mobile operators (see Disappointing Start For Mobile TV).
Research from Telephia published earlier this year revealed that mobile video revenues in the US totaled $146 million in Q1 2007, growing 198% year on year (see US Mobile Video Revenues Reach $146 Million In Q1).