Mobile TV: It Isn't About the Small Screen

Some observers might argue that most mobile users do not really want to watch TV on their handsets all that badly. Others might argue they'd like to, but the small screen or shortened battery life are barriers. Some would say the logical use is short form video to fill interstitial time, not long-form content or TV shows. Others will say people don't want to pay as much as carriers now charge.

All these objections have some merit. But what might be most significant is the limited amount of linear content people can get.

AT&T's new video service will deliver 10 television channels for a fee of $15 a month.

AT&T Mobile TV will be available in 58 markets including Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.

Two handsets are available immediately, the LG Vu, which sells for $299.99, and the Samsung Access, which sells for $199.99.

Observers often note that a typical TV viewer only watches about seven channels. The problem is that every person uses a different mix of seven channels. And that's the issue for AT&T and Verizon.

AT&T Mobile TV delivers CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, Fox Mobile, MTV, NBC 2Go, NBC News 2Go, Nickelodeon, Sony Pictures and CNN Mobile Live.

As long as those channels cover enough of your seven favorites, you're going to be interested. If that list does not contain at least one of your favorites, you won't be that interested. And then any rational buyer is going to do a "cost per channel" analysis to figure out whether buying the mobile TV service makes sense.

And the end of the day, all the other objections likely can be overcome. The basic objection, though, is that people will want access to their favorite channels. That value proposition makes sense to 96 percent of all households.

What people won't want is to pay for is channels they don't really watch. Cable TV succeeded because it gave consumers more choice. Mobile TV today is lagging precisely because it doesn't provide enough choice.