How successful is 'Mobile TV?' Will in the UK, it seems fair to label it as a 'statistical error.' The BBC are looking to resume trials of 'casting TV and radio to handsets, after their previous 12 month trial finished in April. The viewership peaked at 580 viewers in June last year, with an average usage of 13 minutes a month. They are now looking to syndicate their channels to the UK 3G networks, and are asking for the public's opinion.
Read on in the full article.
Waste of time and money.
Why not just improve iplayer for mobile use?
iPlayer is going to take a TCP/IP session for each connection that is made which is consequential for network capacity. If TV is broadcast over 3G networks using broadcast packets then it would be more efficient.
The previous 12 month trial was DVB-H?
On the issue of exclusive content:
The danger of doing content just for podcasts or just for mobile phones would be the BBC being accused of encroaching on commercial interests. As a tax-funded public service broadcaster they're theoretically only supposed to do stuff that commercial channels fail to cover. I'm not necessarily agreeing with that position, but it's a position that a lot of politicians take and the BBC depends on political support for its survival.
The BBC website used to do a lot of totally-for-the-web content (like their very popular BBC Cult site, which was about sci-fi in case you're wondering), but they had to shut a lot of it down as it was making life difficult for them politicially.
It would also be difficult to see why a mobile video or podcast should only be available on those formats. If the BBC already has radio and TV networks, why not distribute that same material there too? Podcasts are effectively just timeshifted radio programmes, and mobile videos are just normal TV programmes on a smaller screen.
if the trial is DVB-H it would make sense.
as there's about to be a HUGE number of people with n96s unleashed on the highstreet.
all blissfully ignorant of their handsets capabilities.
The Oxford trial with 500 users was DVB-H.
Unregistered wrote:The Oxford trial with 500 users was DVB-H.
an you sure? the text "The BBC Executive is seeking permission to syndicate BBC content for delivery to mobile devices via 3G. This follows a 12-month trial, during which the BBC syndicated television and radio services, via 3G, to mobile phones on Orange, T-mobile, Vodafone and 3 networks." is definitely 3G and not dvb-h
I was referring to the Oxford DVB-H trial so yes I am sure it was DVB-H. Could hardly get it wrong.
If any of you have a UK T-Mobile account, you can sign up to receive BBC TV via 3G (Sky and Sky Sports also). It was pretty poor quality as I tried it.
Here is my issue with the BBC. You have to PAY T-Mobile or whoever you're with to get that content. So in summation, buy an iPhone, get iPlayer content free...buy an N95...pay extra per month to access the same programming. Does the BBC have some vested interest in Apple? I've already paid for my TV licence...so why am I paying AGAIN to access free public TV?