Pay dearly for TV on your cell
Posted
May 01 2008, 01:53 PM
by
Kim Peterson
I love the idea of watching television shows on my cell phone. But would I pay for it? Eh. I'm not alone here -- only about 5% of consumers are willing to pay for mobile TV. Yet that isn't stopping AT&T from launching a paid service next week that broadcasts TV programs on cell phones.
AT&T is shooting itself in the foot by setting the financial bar so high that few users will sign up. According to the WSJ, you have to buy one of two new phones (at $200 or $300) to get started. Then you have to pay $15 a month on top of what you already pay for voice and data plans. The traditional two-year commitment probably applies as well. Still, investors seem to be happy with the news, because AT&T shares were up 3% at last check to nearly $40.
The service has a 150-program lineup of programs from CBS, Comedy Central, Fox and NBC. It will be hard to add many more or improve the video quality, because the service is on the same network used for voice signals and can't take up too much room.
No thanks. But we can dream, can't we, of taking the couch away from the potato and being able to fire up an episode of "The Office" in the dentist's waiting room. In a year or two, TV on the cell phone might be a more reasonable proposition. But right now, I'm saving my money for a 3G iPhone.
AT&T will run its service on a Qualcomm-owned network called MediaFLO. Verizon uses that network also, though to call it a success would be a reach. Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs bemoaned the slow rollout of MediaFLO recently, saying phone carriers aren't advertising it much.
Other companies are invested in this space, including Dish Network and MobiTV. AT&T is trying to get in the game early before consumer interest peaks, but it will need to reduce prices to appeal to the mainstream.
