Stars of the mini screen

Sunday Business Post - Media & Marketing - April 8 2007

Eamon Dunphy, George Hook and Tom Dunne have all answered the call of the networks and are starring in television shows produced specially for mobile phones, writes Dermot Corrigan

Irish mobile phone networks are now offering a variety of original TV content that users can watch on the latest mobile handsets. However, opinions differ across the sector as to how the dedicated 'made-for-mobile' content space will develop.

O2, Vodafone and 3 have all produced and broadcasted dedicated mobile TV content for their users in the recent past. Most of these shows are fronted by well known personalities, and they generally feature entertainment or sports content.

David Riley, Head of Entertainment with 3 in Ireland, said: "We see a gap in the marketplace particuarly for compelling personality-driven TV content, Football and music are two of the strongest content areas."

3's dedicated mobile TV programming includes music show The Hive with Today FM presenter Tom Dunne and Eamon Dunphy's Last Word on Football. The Hive is a fortnightly music magazine-style show, featuring live performances and interviews from Irish and international bands, gig guides, album reviews, and a download music chart.


Dunphy's Last Word on Football is a twice-weekly programme where the controversial pundit gives his characteristically forthright views and predictions on English Premiership developments and the other football news of the day. It is filmed on Thursdays and a preview is available for download on Fridays. The actual 15-minute TV show comes out on Monday, when it is streamed.

O2’s TV mobile specific TV programming continues the sporting theme. Rod O'Callaghan, Head of Entertainment Services with O2 Ireland, said the company launched The Snug with George Hook and Brent Pope in the run up to the Six Nations rugby championship. This was a pre and post-match analysis programme for rugby fans available on I-Mode handsets and also on O2.ie.

"We also offered Brian O'Driscoll's Six Nations diary which was available on I-Mode and O2.ie exclusively," said O'Callaghan.

Vodafone is not as confident about the potential success of made for mobile TV content in the Irish market. When they launched their 3G service in November, 2004, it included a free-to-view TV show called Access Music TV with Dave Fanning.

This was a 15 minute package of highlights from Fanning's back catalogue of music television programming, with the RTE DJ providing a linking voiceover.

"We tried it and it worked very well initially for us," said Sarah Chapman, Head of Content Services with Vodafone Ireland. "But when we added access to music TV channels such as The Box we found that customers prefer the usability and variety of programming that was available within that mobile TV offering, so we did not continue with the service."

Chapman said that Vodafone have no plans at present to produce any more original content for distribution over their mobile network.

"We try and play to our core strengths," she said. "We have found mobile TV customers want a large channel line-up, and partnering with somebody like Sky makes the overall customer proposition the best it can be."

Vodafone's mobile TV packages include the Sky News & Sports Pack, Sky Entertainment Pack and Sky Music packs, as well as Premiership football highlights. O2 and 3 also provide a variety of existing television programming, which is adapted in-house for viewing on a mobile phone screen, including news, sport, weather and comedy shows. Meteor do not currently offer any made for mobile or existing TV content.

O'Callaghan said that O2 were observing the market closely to see if customers prefer made for mobile content over conventional TV programmes.

"We believe there is scope for both original and existing TV content," he said. "We are currently conducting a mobile TV trial in the greater Dublin area. This is broadcast TV on mobile, as you would see it on TV at home. 350 customers are trialling it at the moment on the Nokia N92. We will be in a position to compare the results at the end of this trial."

The networks declined to give out specific information on the download numbers of their made for mobile TV offerings, however both 3 and O2 said they were happy with the take-up from users.

"Usage figures are commercially sensitive however the demand we have seen so far for these services is extremely encouraging and it continues to grow as customers become more familiar with these services," said O'Callaghan.

Riley said that more than half of 3's Irish customers watch TV content on their mobiles.

Both O2 and 3 are happy to press on and continue to commission and offer made for mobile TV programming.

"We have seen a significant increase in the uptake of these services and this has been encouraging," said O'Callaghan. "As technology evolves more applications will become available. We will continue to explore the area of content and will assess further opportunities as they arise."

"3 is looking at a number of different opportunities at the moment," said Riley. "I think the entertainment space on mobiles is going to develop greatly. TV made for mobile is a strong success story."

At present most mobile TV in Ireland is viewed 3G handsets (3, O2 and Vodafone) or I-Mode enabled handsets (O2). Last September ComReg awarded special licenses to O2 and 3 to broadcast television over a competing technology to 3G called Digital Video Broadcasting over Handhelds (DVB-H).

Made for mobile TV content is generally offered at no extra charge to both bill pay and pre-pay subscribers. Users can be asked to pay for existing content. For example a weekly subscription to Vodafone's Sky News Channel costs €1.99, while watching a Little Britain or Fr Ted clip on a 3 mobile costs 49c.

The mobile providers typically use small independent production houses to produce their made for mobile TV content.

For example the Dunphy football and Hook rugby shows are produced by Random Thoughts Media, a Dublin based digital media company. Ballywire Media and Videos On The Net are two other independents who provide televisual content for O2.