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Mobile operator didn't profit from showing World Cup clips
World Cup 2006 - 25 September, 2006
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Mobile operator 3 had 740,000 users a week viewing World Cup clips, but still was hit with a loss.
The content was free to 3's 3 million customers, supported by advertising and sponsorship. It did not make money as a standalone service, according to David Stranks, who was involved in the operator's coverage of the event.
Stranks said that offering free coverage of big events, supported by advertising and sponsorship, was the way forward for mobile sports content in the short to medium term.
"People are very happy to use it when it's free, but I'm not sure that, beyond the committed fan, people are willing to pay for it," Stranks said at a Westminster e-forum seminar on mobile sports content today.
For the World Cup, 3 offered video previews of every match, plus two minutes of highlights within five minutes of the final whistle, and three and a half minutes within an hour of each game ending.
It also provided SMS text alerts and nine-second clips of goals, plus a twice-daily football talkshow.
The talkshow was getting more than 100,000 mobile viewers a week.
"This proves that the right event, offered up in the right way, not attempting to duplicate what was being done on traditional TV, can attract the casual mobile user," Stranks said. "It was a good PR and branding exercise, but it's not a commercially sustainable model."
Stranks said a survey of 3's subscriber base revealed that 31 percent of users never accessed content via their mobile and just used voice and text services. Another 21 percent had tried using 3's content and given up; 31 percent were "semi-active"; and only 14 percent used the audio and video content every week.
Stranks also quoted Olswang research, which found that 37 percent of respondents said they would not pay for mobile content.
"To grow the mobile sports content market beyond the passionate, committed fan, given these sort of statistics, seems fairly insurmountable," he said. "At 3, during the World Cup, I think we did prove that with the right event you can do that."
The content was free to 3's 3 million customers, supported by advertising and sponsorship. It did not make money as a standalone service, according to David Stranks, who was involved in the operator's coverage of the event.
Stranks said that offering free coverage of big events, supported by advertising and sponsorship, was the way forward for mobile sports content in the short to medium term.
"People are very happy to use it when it's free, but I'm not sure that, beyond the committed fan, people are willing to pay for it," Stranks said at a Westminster e-forum seminar on mobile sports content today.
For the World Cup, 3 offered video previews of every match, plus two minutes of highlights within five minutes of the final whistle, and three and a half minutes within an hour of each game ending.
It also provided SMS text alerts and nine-second clips of goals, plus a twice-daily football talkshow.
The talkshow was getting more than 100,000 mobile viewers a week.
"This proves that the right event, offered up in the right way, not attempting to duplicate what was being done on traditional TV, can attract the casual mobile user," Stranks said. "It was a good PR and branding exercise, but it's not a commercially sustainable model."
Stranks said a survey of 3's subscriber base revealed that 31 percent of users never accessed content via their mobile and just used voice and text services. Another 21 percent had tried using 3's content and given up; 31 percent were "semi-active"; and only 14 percent used the audio and video content every week.
Stranks also quoted Olswang research, which found that 37 percent of respondents said they would not pay for mobile content.
"To grow the mobile sports content market beyond the passionate, committed fan, given these sort of statistics, seems fairly insurmountable," he said. "At 3, during the World Cup, I think we did prove that with the right event you can do that."
Source: euFootball.BIZ © Copyright 2006 -
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