No mobile clips please, we want news!

BANGALORE,INDIA: Telegent Systems, the company that makes television mobile with its single-chip mobile TV solutions, today released the results of a global survey conducted to assess consumer interest in watching the 2008 Beijing Games on mobile handsets around the world.

Conducted in nine countries – China, Brazil, Germany, India, Mexico, Russia, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, the survey found the strongest interest in mobile access to Beijing games TV broadcasts in emerging handset markets, with a preference for live news and sports content rather than made-for-mobile clips.

Of consumers interested in mobile TV, 72 per cent of consumers were very likely or likely to watch mobile TV if they are able to receive free, local broadcasts on their handset, compared to 40 per cent who were receptive to subscription services, according to a press release.

Respondents preferred live, local broadcast coverage to made-for-mobile clips, although approximately one-third expressed interest in both.

The most popular programs with viewers with prior mobile TV experience were news at 60 per cent and sports at 33 per cent, the release said.

Emerging markets reported strongest interest in mobile access to Beijing games.

More than 80 per cent of consumers in the emerging handset markets covered in the survey were interested in watching mobile TV. Of those interested in watching mobile TV, more than 80 per cent of consumers in China, Thailand and India were interested in watching the summer games on their handsets, followed by Brazil at 77 per cent and Mexico at 67 per cent, according to the report.

The survey was conducted with more than 1200 respondents by sample solutions provider Survey Sampling International.