Media and entertainment players are looking at ways to target the consumer in a more personal and direct way without losing their revenue share of the lucrative mobile entertainment market to the mobile operators.
Mobile Content Direct to Consumer, a new report from Informa Telecoms & Media, looks at this major new development in the delivery of mobile entertainment. The mobile phone is becoming an additional channel for distributing entertainment, with full music tracks, ring tones, games and more already captivating the mobile consumer, as well as the emergence of mobile TV and video-on-demand.
Mobile entertainment is becoming the 'next big thing' and the media brands, content providers and mobile operators are beginning to see the revenue opportunities offered by this previously untapped market and are devising strategies to cash in as quickly as they can. But this development means that media companies and mobile operators need to work together - and that is leading to problems. The content providers want to grab as large a share as they can and are looking at ways of bypassing the mobile operators.
"When two industries accustomed to calling their own shots try to chase $42 billion together, sparks fly," says Mark Halper, author of the report. "That's what's happening in mobile entertainment, which awkwardly pairs mobile juggernauts like Vodafone with entertainment heavyweights like the Hollywood studios. Both want 70 percent of the revenue. This may be 'new media' but it's not new math. Two times 70 percent doesn't add up. So while powerhouses like Disney and BSkyB are working with the operators, they're also finding their own direct routes to consumers' phones. The starting gun has sounded in the direct-to-consumer race."
The report shows that mobile entertainment revenues are expected to double in the next five years - from $21.3 billion in 2006 to $42.1 billion in 2010 worldwide, which is putting a smile on the media and entertainment companies' faces. But expect a major squabble over the sharing out of such a large pot.
Mobile Content Direct to Consumer, a new report from Informa Telecoms & Media, looks at this major new development in the delivery of mobile entertainment. The mobile phone is becoming an additional channel for distributing entertainment, with full music tracks, ring tones, games and more already captivating the mobile consumer, as well as the emergence of mobile TV and video-on-demand.
Mobile entertainment is becoming the 'next big thing' and the media brands, content providers and mobile operators are beginning to see the revenue opportunities offered by this previously untapped market and are devising strategies to cash in as quickly as they can. But this development means that media companies and mobile operators need to work together - and that is leading to problems. The content providers want to grab as large a share as they can and are looking at ways of bypassing the mobile operators.
"When two industries accustomed to calling their own shots try to chase $42 billion together, sparks fly," says Mark Halper, author of the report. "That's what's happening in mobile entertainment, which awkwardly pairs mobile juggernauts like Vodafone with entertainment heavyweights like the Hollywood studios. Both want 70 percent of the revenue. This may be 'new media' but it's not new math. Two times 70 percent doesn't add up. So while powerhouses like Disney and BSkyB are working with the operators, they're also finding their own direct routes to consumers' phones. The starting gun has sounded in the direct-to-consumer race."
The report shows that mobile entertainment revenues are expected to double in the next five years - from $21.3 billion in 2006 to $42.1 billion in 2010 worldwide, which is putting a smile on the media and entertainment companies' faces. But expect a major squabble over the sharing out of such a large pot.