A study by GfK Technology has found that 70% of active subscribers are tuning in to mobile TV services at least once a week.
The majority of these subscribers watch mobile TV for less than half an hour at any one time, with 38% saying their typical viewing session is more than 20 minutes.
More than half of the respondents signed up to mobile TV to “have something to do during downtime”. Only 18% said the main reason for acquiring mobile TV was “to watch a programme when away from my main TV” and 10% said it was so they could “catch a particular programme”.
News and weather, sports and music videos were the most popular forms of mobile TV attracting 65%, 56% and 46% of users respectively.
Colin Strong, director of GfK Technology called the findings “encouraging” for mobile TV. “As a time-filler the proposition of mobile TV is a good one but it is a vulnerable position to have as there are plenty of other activities that can become time fillers. Tapping into the drivers for TV has much more potential for growing the market.”