A broadcast-to-mobile offering in Korea has been embraced by consumers to the tune of one million devices, according to this story in Digital World Tokyo. Of course whether anyone is actually watching is not said.
It’s easy to believe many are, however, for two main reasons: they don’t have to pay extra for broadcast shows, and the receivers are not limited to mobile phones. According to the article, only 32-percent of receivers sold are phones. Others are for laptops and other digital media players, including cheap USB-based plug-in receivers.
I’m not sure if this broadcast model takes full advantages of digital distribution, like letting viewers watch whenever they want, but it does have the compelling feature of making them watch together, or at least at the same time as everyone else. In fact for subjects like sports (which my own independent and non-scientific survey of Japanese mobile TV users indicated was the most likely use) you really want to be watching live, and if your life is busy, you might need to tune in anywhere.
