(22 June 2007 3:00 pm)

SINGAPORE: Every operator is trying to figure out how mobile phone consumers consume TV. At the Mobile TV Forum at BroadcastAsia, TU Media laid out some interesting findings that were done in Korea which contradict common perceptions.

Here is perhaps the most surprising statistic for those who believe that mobile TV is for the youth. 30 per cent
of mobile TV subscribers are above 40. The age group under 20 is less than 10 per cent.

In door is as important as out door in terms of mobile TV usage. People use it at home and in the office. There is no concept of primetime during the day. It happens at any hour. The assumption has always been that the commuting time will be primetime.

Also the running time of content is not very important. Subscribers request variety of content. Korea’s T-DMB is a terrestrial free service with seven video and 11 audio channels. S-DMB is a satellite pay service nation-wide with 15 video and 20 audio channels.

It is forecast that there will be 21 million DMB users in 2012 in the country. TU Media says that it is the sole S-DMB Operator in Korea with more than one million subscribers. It operates its own Mobile TV network.

It cooperates with all three mobile carriers in Korea. There is a consortium of major companies in S-DMB Value Chain. SK Telecom is the largest shareholder. EchoStar, Samsung, LG and Broadcasters are shareholders.

In terms of its revenue model, the monthly fee is a major source. Ads, content distribution and technology distribution are a second source. TU Media’s price strategy has aimed to be affordable to the mass: $11 a month. The firm offers 15 video channels in different genres including sports, news, drama.