Mobile TV Lessons from the East<< Wireless Still a Sideshow at Comcast | Main Sharon Armbrust | March 16, 2007, 06:15 AM At the Mobile TV World Summit in Munich, Germany March 14-15, TU Media’s ceo Dr. Young K Su showed the audience what a coordinated full court press into mobile TV could achieve...at least in Korea. TU Media, in cooperation with the country’s carriers, launched a satellite-delivered DMB Mobile TV network in mid 2005. 18 months later, the company boasts a 1.2 mil. subscriber count, which it expects to double in 2007 and to grow to 6.6 mil. by 2010. SK Telecom got the satellite frequency license and is a 33% owner in the venture. EchoStar recently bought a 10% position. Young K Su pointed to the service’s 95% population coverage and 50+ terminal choices as critical to its early success. That didn’t come cheaply as the company estimates it spent $400 mil. on a fill-in relay network to extend satellite coverage in metro areas and indoors. But it also found it had to be quick to evolve the offering to attract users. For example, the company started the service at a $14/mo. subscription rate but dropped it to $11/mo. last November and saw an immediately improved take-up response. A number of the company’s pre-launch assumptions were dispelled once subscribers showed their usage patterns, which led it to repeatedly change the channel lineup, which was reworked 22 times inside the first 18 months on air. It currently provides 38 channels (15 video and 18 audio), of direct broadcast TV as well as other event and special fare. And customers on average are using the service for 60 minutes/day. A before and after launch assumption chart looked something like this: Expectation Pre Launch Reality Post Launch |
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