Increasing Demand Seen For Mobile TV

10/11/2005 Some two million adults claim to have watched TV via their mobile phone, while a further one million want to do so, according to new research.

The survey, from Continental Research, asked 2,135 adults which devices, apart from the traditional TV set, they had ever viewed TV on.

More than one in ten claim to have ever viewed TV via the Internet, on a PC or laptop, and 4% claim to have ever viewed TV on a mobile phone.

As usual with new technology developments, it was the younger generation and men that were more likely to have experienced TV viewing through these devices.

Nearly two in ten (18%) have watched TV via the Internet, compared with 11% women. One in twenty (5%) men have watched TV via mobiles compared with 4% women.

In terms of age, the 16-24 group was most likely to view mobile TV, with 11% already having done so.

All respondents were also asked which devices they were interested in watching TV through at the times when they couldn’t watch through a normal TV. 17% of all adults expressed an interest in watching TV via the internet and 6% were interested in watching TV on their mobile phone.

Jon Beaumont, director at Continental Research, said: “Interest is likely to rise as people’s awareness and knowledge of the available services increases. At the moment that knowledge is minimal. However, this is changing rapidly.”

“Early adopters are starting to use these new mobile and internet TV services and it seems likely that with such big brands behind the latest developments it won’t be long before the mass market consumer will be watching Match of the Day highlights through their mobile, or catching up with the latest episode of The Simpsons through their PC,” Beaumont added.