EMERYVILLE, CALIF.: Size is a factor in mobile TV. That’s the message from the folks at MobiTV, who endeavored to find out. The mobile video content provider parsed its FIFA 2010 World Cup viewership--100 million minutes on ESPN Mobile TV “with 100 percent uptime.” (The figure is up from last month’s tally of 88 million.)
“This volume of coverage delivered to the world’s largest mobile TV subscriber base affords MobiTV a deeper look into a number of viewing trends and behaviors from mobile video users in the U.S.,” MobiTV said. The Mobi folks found that the larger the screen size of the device, the longer folks watched World Cup coverage:
Screen Size: Minutes Viewed
5-inch screen: 118.2 average minutes viewed
4-inch screen: 102.2 average minutes viewed
3-inch screen: 67.4 average minutes viewed
2-inch screen: 61.1 average minutes viewed
MobiTV also looked at platform preference “for various social personas. Viewers were identified by the most likely reason they purchased a device. For example, the ‘Business Person’ uses their mobile device to check e-mails and manage their schedule, while the ‘Gadget Geek’ is more interested in multimedia.”
Viewer TypePlatformMinutes Viewed
Gadget GeekAndroid125.7
Sophisticated TweenBREW84
TREO LoyalistPalm84
Status SeekeriPhone77.8
Business PersonRIM65.4
TweenWinMo62.7
Geographically, Mobi subscribers in California and New York accounted for the most World Cup watching at nearly 23 percent of the total.
CityPercentage of Total World Cup Viewing Time
Los Angeles12.9 percent
New York10.1 percent
Chicago6 percent
San Francisco4.4 percent
Weekday games played at 2:30 p.m. ET were watched the longest in terms of average minutes per game. Weekday watching accounted for more than 72 percent of total viewing.
“As the mobile device evolves into a multimedia powerhouse, and as the screen sizes increase in both size and resolution, consumers will demand more relevant and live content,” said Charlie Nooney, CEO of MobiTV. “Although mobile TV does not replace our traditional TV viewing habits in does provide a viable alternative. Similar to the need to be connected to email, friends and family, being connected to the latest news and events will drive consumers to mobile television.”
MobiTV launched in 2003 and now has around 10 million subscribers. The company rolled out an iPhone app in April that had more than a million downloads by the end of June. Expansion onto more Android-based mobile phones was announced last month.
July 7, 2010: “MobiTV Reports Delivering ’88 Million Minutes’ of Live World Cup Coverage”
“That number is equivalent to one viewer spending 61,111 consecutive days in front of the TV.”
