NewsLine Column: Big Games On The Small Screen
Football highlights are one of the many features being heavily promoted by UK mobile operators but will the reality match the hype? Simon Ward of MediaTelINSIGHT argues that there’s no substitute for live action and consumers are yet to be convinced that mobile sports coverage is anything more than a fad.
You would be hard pressed this summer to avoid the high profile advertising campaign by the country’s newest mobile operator, 3 UK. Prime time television adverts and prominent billboards have all drawn attention to the Premiership football coverage available on the company’s video mobile service.
While other mobile providers have pushed new calling plans, online services and picture messaging, 3, which is owned by Hutchison Whampoa, has placed an emphasis on the beautiful game. The 3G operator sees football as key to the growth of its customer base and new subscribers who sign up to a VideoTalk price plan, before the end of September, get three months’ free video footage, alerts, audio bulletins and news.
The latest handsets allow match goals and highlights to be shown in admirable detail on a three inch screen. However, there is one major drawback. While it is a technological advance to be able to watch Michael Owen skip round Premiership defences on a mobile phone shortly after the event, it does not compare with the experience of watching the action live on television.
There are already complaints that TV coverage of football is reaching saturation point and online supporters can already follow the progress of their club on the internet. Mobile operators therefore have their work cut out to convince consumers that handset highlights are indispensable. The lukewarm reaction to wireless data services has shown that however good the content, consumers will only pay for what they really want and even the most ardent footie fan could dismiss the latest offering as a gimmick.
This has cut little ice with mobile operators who are desperate to recoup some of the money spent on 3G licenses. Only last week, 3 secured a deal which will see UEFA Champions League coverage added to its football service. Vodafone has also acquired mobile rights to the competition for the next three years.
Both companies are naturally excited about the prospect of streaming action from the world’s leading club competition but their core business is voice/SMS and it is TV giants like BSkyB who will benefit most from European football.
Since its launch in March, 3 has attracted around 150,000 subscribers. This is somewhat disappointing given that the firm set a year-end target of 1 million and it would be well advised to accentuate its low cost voice pricing whilst ensuring that there are enough 3G handsets on the market.
The football effect cannot be written off completely. Mobile video services may be in their infancy but 65 million text messages were sent throughout the UK on the final day of the last Premiership season. The Mobile Data Association attributes this high number to text alerts and communications between elated/deflated football fans. At least operators can rest assured that bad news costs exactly the same as good news.
If you would like to respond or make further comment on this or any other NewsLine article, please email [email protected].
Subscribers can access previous articles by NewsLine columnists in the Columnist Archive – click button on left.