Streaming Media - 2008 Industry Sourcebook - (Page 42) industry update MobiTV With better interfaces and a focus on great content with minimal user issues, MobiTV takes the top prize for paid distribution services in 2007. The deal did have its faults. The $1.99 price per show was a little steep considering you only had access to a given show for 24 hours, but this was a huge step in the right direction for the major networks. MobiTV also entered into a partnership with Sprint TV late in the year to gradually take over Sprint’s foray into serving up video content on its mobile devices. Adding to Sprint’s already full lineup of viewing choices, consumers would now have access to all the content that MobiTV had been building on. ESPN, FOX, TLC, and a slew of other choices will kick up Sprint’s offerings and should provide a great end-user experience. If you are on another network or platform, most phones can still access MobiTV by paying a $9.95 monthly fee. These folks have figured out a lot of things that most carriers are still struggling with, and we will probably see more deals similar to the Sprint partnership as we move into 2008. With better interfaces and a focus on great content with minimal user issues, MobiTV takes the top prize in 2007. YOUTUBE—BEST FREE DISTRIBUTION SERVICE upload to YouTube, and a host of other devices and services. These companies made sure they gave consumers what they wanted—to be able to record and watch YouTube videos. YouTube’s m.youtube.com website interface allowed users to create mobile profiles; it made recording, uploading, and sharing videos a snap. There were critics who complained that YouTube and Google were dragging their feet and that it took longer than expected to provide true mobile interaction with the video giant. Overall, YouTube delivered on its promise to provide as much access to its video sharing website for mobile devices as it could. Where it dropped off, other websites offered conversion of YouTube videos to 3GP and other services, which allowed YouTube support for most mobile devices. As we move more toward mobile browsers and our phones become an extension of our computer browsing experience, sites like YouTube will continue to dominate in serving up free videos. Losers: Services WIRELESS CARRIERS More mobile devices had internet browsing capabilities in 2007 than at any time in the history of mobile devices. More mobile phone videos were recorded and uploaded online in 2007 than in years past as well. This was the year for YouTube to shine in distributing free videos to mobile devices. Because of the demand for access to viral and user-generated videos, YouTube was able to leverage itself into several exclusive partnerships with device manufacturers and wireless carriers. Such deals included devices like AT&T’s iPhone, with its exclusive YouTube channel, LG’s KU990, featuring direct 2007 was the year of video on our mobile phones. The wireless carriers were supposed to be the ones to help us get there, but overall they stood in the way of making great mobile video experiences happen. In their defense, wireless carriers are not in the content business, but the shift from service provider to content distribution has been awkward at best and painful at worst. One of the primary reasons wireless carriers lost in delivering content was a radical shift in consumer thinking. As mentioned 42 STREAMING MEDIA INDUSTRY SOURCEBOOK 2008 http://m.youtube.com
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