It's been hailed as a 'writer's medium', but can mobile video deliver meaningful revenue in its current form?
The future for mobile video is bright, as long as the industry can hit upon a business model and user experience that works.
That's the overarching view of industry figures quizzed by ME as part of a focus on where the sector is heading next.
ITV Mobile, for example, has commissioned several mobile-only shows with one even turned into a full-blown series for one of its main channels.
But while the UK broadcaster's outgoing mobile chief Melissa Goodwin says mobile video will come of age in a couple of years, she concedes that right now original, made-for-mobile programming remains a hard sell.
She told us: “You need a big brand and big talent to get [on deck] distribution now. But how do you pay for it? Advertisers want results especially in today’s climate, so it’s hard to get sponsorship.”
It's a similar story over at Mobile Streams, which has spent time amassing a library of video content through its Cyoshi subsidiary.
CEO Simon Buckingham said: "Made for mobile is challenging. There hasn’t been a made for mobile video hit yet. No equivalent of Crazy Frog or Tetris. I believe there is a market, but for the moment the handsets and the data plans are inhibiting it.”
But with numerous competitions and festivals (Mofilm, Cannes Lions, etc) there is continued momentum behind the medium from a creative point of view.
According to Richard Morris, head of video at Player X, the key will be to marry this creativity with the wider social media movement.
He said: "My hunch is that programming needs to be linked to community, apps and games. Imagine a ‘hot or not’ type show that viewers can rate or an ad-funded film channel where users can vote on movie trailers. I’m sure this is where the market is going.”
To read the full article about the mobile video scene, simply click here.
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