Qualcomm CEO Admits Failure of 'Mobile TV'

At the All Things Digital conference this past week Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs acknowledged that its FloTV mobile TV service was essentially a failure:

Speaking at The Wall Street Journal's All Things Digital conference, Jacobs said Flo TV, a cable television service that delivers shows from ABC and MTV and other content to mobile devices, hasn't done well despite Qualcomm efforts to build an audience for the service with high-profile advertisements during the Super Bowl and elsewhere.

"There are people who love it, but the numbers are not nearly what we expected," Jacobs said.

This is something we've been saying for some time. FloTV will now be reinvented or broadened according to Jacobs:

Jacobs said he envisions Flo TV evolving into a more general system for delivering data to mobile devices that isn't limited to video. Qualcomm designed Flo TV as a service that can efficiently deliver content to a wide audience through traditional broadcasting methods, an approach that can reduce the network congestion caused by individuals streaming video to their mobile devices. 

The problem is not with user demand for video on mobile devices; that has been steadily growing and will continue to gain as faster networks come online and more people buy smartphones:

The problem is that people don't want to pay surcharges or separate subscriptions to watch TV on their phones. It's possible that a few "branded" players such as Hulu, Netflix (maybe YouTube) could succeed with a stand-alone subscription for mobile -- maybe an ESPN as well. More likely, however, is a one-price access model across platforms, which is what Netflix offers today. And the video content will need to include both movies and TV shows.

Fox-backed Bitbop has launched a mobile video app for RIM devices and will be introducing a subscription model at some point. Its two-tiered approach (freemium) might work: get people involved and then upsell them to additional content or commercial free content, etc. Regardless, someone will eventually get the mix of video content and business model right.

As Hulu Hesitates, Bitbop Launches Mobile App

Mobile video is gaining traction but subscription-based mobile TV continues to struggle. However there are a few "brands" that could pull it off; Hulu is one of them. The NBC-Fox joint venture is preparing to launch a premium model (this month) and people continue to wait for a mobile version.

Subscription-based Netflix is moving ahead with mobile plans after the successful launch of its iPad app.

The US cable companies also have their cross-platform visions and plans. And now the Fox-backed Bitbop has launched. It's a movie and TV streaming service for mobile devices -- only BlackBerry for now. But other apps are coming. (The inclusion of movies is key to gaining acceptance of the subscription model.)

There are 25 content partners and a $10 per month premium version coming at some point. While the user experience is likely to be acceptable on the small screen -- Bitbop apparently will work on 3G as well as WiFi -- an iPad or Tablet version will likely be much better. But the larger idea represented by all these services and apps is "TV in the cloud" -- anytime/anywhere. This option will drive some number of people to subscribe to a "mobile TV" service. 

And with Internet TV poised (e.g., Google TV) to take off services like Hulu, Netflix, YouTube and possibly Bitbop become potential ways around cable fees.

Most people would rather pay $10 per month to watch their favorite shows and movies (even if delayed vs. cable and DVD) vs. $60 to $100 per month for premium cable. Of course none of these services offer sports, which is a big driver of cable subscriptions and retention. 

CES Showcases Mobile TV: But Will They Pay?

The Consumer Electronics Show opens tonight in Las Vegas and there are a ton of announcements coming out of the show already. Mostly they surround three areas: eReaders/Tablets/Slate computers, 3D TV and mobile TV. Here are just a few of the announcements and related coverage so far:

• Hearst Bows Thinnest, Largest E-reader Device
• Samsung Moment Becomes First Free US Mobile TV Phone
• LG flat-screen TV gets skinny 
• Microsoft and H.P. to Reveal Slate PC Ahead of Apple
• Toshiba’s Cell TV will convert 2-D images to 3-D
• Sling Media debuts four new OEM placeshifting media devices at CES 2010
• FLO TV to bring live mobile TV to iPhone

The Samsung Moment is offering free TV via the new mobile DTV standard. Free TV will be of interest to most people who would like to watch TV on mobile devices.

But the persistent question surrounding the so-far unsuccessful mobile TV efforts in the US and abroad is how to get consumers to pay. Then there are the "TV Everywhere" efforts of TimeWarner, Dish Network and Comcast to provide access online and in some cases via mobile devices to subscribers. This extends the "reach" of their subscriptions to other devices.

Although paid offerings have not been very successful to date, a recent survey shows an apparent, growing willingness to pay for premium TV and video content on smartphones. However other surveys show price sensitivity: 

Source: QuickPlay Media, n=1,000 (3/09)

There will ultimately probably be three or four "mobile TV" business models in the market:

• Mobile as part of a home cable subscription
• A la carte pricing (i.e., movie, TV show rentals)  
• Free, ad-supported TV broadcasts
• TV as part of a product bundle used to "upsell" customers to the next tier of service

The idea of a monthly fee for a stand-alone mobile TV subscription, however, is likely to fail (as it has to date). 

Predictions: JumpTap, MMA & Juniper

I'm not going to keep doing this for the next week or so, but here are JumpTap's and the MMA's predictions for next year:

JumpTap:

1. Doubleclick and Atlas launch integrated post click tracking for advertisers
2. Mobile Video takes off
3. Mobile Search gains steam
4. Targeting becomes the key differentiator for mobile ad networks
5. First mobile cross media study is published showing incremental unique audience and brand effects of adding mobile advertising
6. Android is the new black…or at least the iPhone for 2010
7. Government takes a position on privacy
8. Carriers take a more active role in response to Google’s anticipated moves with Nexus One
9. Microsoft, Oracle, Yahoo, and Apple each acquire a pure play mobile adnetwork
10. Carrier, behavioral, location and contextual data go mainstream

Juniper Research:

1. Mobile data traffic will put strain on 3G networks
2. The mobile ecosystem will start to go green
3. Mobile to head for the cloud
4. New category of smartbooks to emerge
5. App stores all around
6. Mobile social networking to integrate with other applications including m-commerce
7. NFC (RFID) phones appear in the shops
8. At least 10 LTE networks will be launched into service
9. Smartphones to get augmented reality makeover
10. Holiday Kindle sales expected to herald the rise of the connected embedded consumer devices

MMA (verbatim):

10. Hypochondriac? We've got an app for that!

Ongoing global pandemics and concerns about socialized healthcare warrant a prescription for mobile content geared toward the sick and the paranoid. Symptoms to watch for include apps that diagnose, doctors that text and medical reminders at hand. Mobile health is just what the doctor ordered!

9. Back to Reality...

Oh, those boring old coupons - they get lost, forgotten, left behind or expired. Look for augmented reality to start playing a larger role in location-based advertising. Now, when you're walking into your favorite coffee shop, the real-time mobile coupon you receive gives you instant gratification with your discounted daily grind.

8. I want my Mobile TV.

In the coming year, both the 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2010 World Cup will heighten mobile video consumption. The introduction of new ad units, including interactive and partial screen, will subsidize free content.

7. Practice Safe Text

Governments and safety advocates around the world warned against texting and driving in 2009. We expect 2010 to bring about technology solutions that disable handset features when the owner is driving.

6. A guy walks into a Barcode...

Proliferation of standardized technology and higher quality camera phones will not only lead to increased adoption of mobile barcodes and coupons, but will also offer a whole new access point to content.

5. Have you hugged your aggregator lately?

Look for aggregators to expand their businesses beyond shortcodes. Aggregation services in the areas of location, customer service and mobile commerce will begin to emerge.

4. Turn free in 1.2 miles

Free is a very good price. We're keeping an eye out for no-cost turn-by-turn navigation applications rolling out on more devices in 2010. The end of stand-alone GPS is in sight. What great news for consumers...and McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts and Dairy Queen.

3. Your Skype is Showing

Services that enable video conferencing and the networks and handsets that support it (like cameras on the front of the phone!) will proliferate in the coming year. More consumers will connect via WiFi, offloading traditional non-wireless video conferencing services.

2. How does mobile measure up?

Moving into 2010 and beyond, campaign effectiveness will be measured in a variety of different and very creative ways. The number of eyeballs, shakes and finger swipes. The number of blogs, articles, tweets and diggs. The number of acquisitions, conversions, calls, responses or purchases. Total basket size, consumer recall, loyalty and recommendations. Check-ins on foursquare and check-outs on Amazon.

1. Mobile's Sixth Sense

Over the past few years, the mobile device has moved beyond standard technology inputs. We're no longer talking, typing and clicking. Now, we're photographing, recording, touching, locating, shaking, accelerating and blowing. What's next? We're rooting for smell recognition.

Mobile TV Interest and Usage Growing

A week ago Nielsen released its latest "three screen" report that seeks to capture usage trends concerning TV, online video and mobile video. Overwhelmingly traditional TV is where people spend most of their time consuming video. Here's the top line:

Americans consume media at a record pace – 129 hrs of TV, 27 hrs of Internet, 3 hrs of mobile video each month 

Nielsen says there are now almost 16 million people in the US watching video on mobile devices (this includes all types). Here are audience demographics for each platform:

I remain extremely skeptical about consumer willingness to pay for mobile TV unless it's part of a bundle (either from the carrier or the cable company).

Separately Frank N. Magid Associates conducted a survey in November to determine interest in "live mobile television." The survey consisted of 1,007 respondents (18-59) and is reportedly representative of the US Internet user population. The survey explored a range of issues around programming content and the hypothetical business model.

Here are some of the charts (numbers below are %):

These survey results show a very high degree of openness to watching ads on mobile video to subsidize costs. However there's a surprisingly high number (46% of smartphone owners that would pay for content). Here's the Magid comment about the findings:

Premium content also has potential, with more than one-third (36%) of respondents expressing interest in paying for premium content, such as recent movies, premium sporting events, etc. on a subscription or pay-per-view basis. Early adopters (61%), Adult Millennials (42%) and Smartphone owners (46%) are most interested in this content.

I believe that selected groups would pay for sporting events and movies on a per use basis. Those models are well established. I'm just quite a bit more skeptical that people would pay a cable-TV like subscription (unless nominal or bundled) for general "mobile TV." 

FLO TV Trying to Control Fate with New Device

I'm a critic, in case you haven't guessed, of subscription-based mobile TV. Mobile video is gaining and consumers are increasingly watching video on smartphones. But paying for TV on mobile devices is a different matter.

Qualcomm's FLO TV (just like other mobile TV offerings) is facing an very difficult uphill battle, if not failing. Lackluster consumer adoption has forced the company in a new direction: launching its own device, called "FLO TV Personal Television." 

But this device costs $250 (with six months of TV for free, after that it costs). The device should flop pretty massively. Why? Here's why:

• People don't want to carry a third device on the go. At home they'll just watch TV or use the Internet
• The cost (they would need to give the device away with a subscription to really generate interest)
• Smartphones offer better quality resolution on a device you already own
• People still don't want to pay anything meaningful for mobile TV (though they will buy mobile as part of a package)

Engadget has a demo video. 

The winners in this space should be the cable TV providers, which could offer mobile as part of an upsell package or a retention plan, which they'll increasingly have to think about as more and more content alternatives emerge (e.g., Netflix). 

BBC Finds Tepid Interest in Mobile TV

The BBC has decided not to go forward with ambitious mobile TV syndication plans, in another sign of lackluster consumer interest in mobile TV. In a year-long trial with top mobile operators (save O2) the BBC found limited interest among users. According to a published report:

The 12 month trial was held by the BBC last year in partnership with Orange, Vodafone, T-Mobile, 3 and Sky. A subsequent BBC consultation document said the trial results ‘suggested that the level of demand for content delivered via 3G is uncertain and may, at least in the short to medium term, be relatively small’.

At its peak, only 580 users per day accessed the BBC’s TV channels during the trial.

Apparently however the BBC still has plans to stream Olympics coverage to mobiles. 

These findings are consistent with limited consumer interest in the US in "mobile TV." Mobile video continues to grow as a broader category; however consumers have little interest in paying premiums to watch TV on their handsets. Pricing and user experience are the central challenges for mobile TV. As part of a bundle to lure subscribers into an "unlimted" tier of service, mobile TV may have some appeal. 

However given increasing price competition among US operators such deals may be unprofitable for both them and the mobile TV vendors. Eventually we predict that TV subscription revenues will provide only a small amount to the involved parties and most of the "mobile TV" revenues will come from advertising. There may eventually be some appeal for on-demand programming on a per transaction basis, but that will probably need to wait for 4G. 

Video: Blockbuster's Deal with Motorola

Earlier this week we saw a deal announced that would put Blockbuster's OnDemand video service on select Motorola phones:

Blockbuster Inc. today announced plans to feature the BLOCKBUSTER OnDemand movie download service in select Motorola phones, giving Motorola access to the BLOCKBUSTER OnDemand service and furthering Blockbuster's digital strategy by providing its library of premium digital entertainment to mobile devices for the first time.

Through the agreement select Motorola phones will feature an exclusive BLOCKBUSTER OnDemand application, providing on-the-go download access to Blockbuster's digital library of thousands of current BLOCKBUSTER OnDemand movies.

This may boost the OnDemand service slightly but it's not really going to help Motorola that much. Perhaps if there are two equally priced Android handsets side by side (Motorola vs. Samsung) this might be something of a tie-breaker. 

As a stand-alone offering people might pay a monthly subscription, but I'm guessing it's part of a larger subscription package that provides access to mobile as a part of the larger offering. 

Mobile video viewing continues to gain though subscription-based mobile TV will continue to struggle as an unnecessary product (unless or until the price becomes trivial or part of an upsell data package). 

Source: Opus Research 4/09 (n=611)

NearbyNow Rolling Out iPhone Apps for Publishers

On the success of its Lucky Magazine app, NearbyNow has built iPhone apps for Seventeen Magazine and Runners World (with others to come) that allow users to review apparel and purchase locally, using NearbyNow's inventory monitoring and verification. According to the press release:

Seventeen Fashion Finder will feature a variety of fashion and accessories that are teens' fall must-haves. The application allows teen girls to search by product: jeans, tops, bags and shoes; by trend: rocker, bo-ho, classic and girly or by price point. The application then checks availability and reserves any of the products in stores nearby. Seventeen Fashion Finder is the first mobile application targeted at the teen market that allows users to locate and reserve products in their local area.

The best way to illustrate how it works is with several screenshots of the Seventeen Magzine app:      

As I said this is the first of a number of apps that NearbyNow is developing for publishers. One of the other things that is reportedly happening, according to NearbyNow CEO Scott Dunlap, is that sharing among mobile users is driving additional volume. Dunlap told me in an email: 

In the App next to every product image is a button that allows you to e-mail to a friend. The e-mail response also includes a button that says “find local." This means that any recipient of the e-mail can find the closest store next to THEM that has the product, even if they don’t have an iPhone. We’re already seeing this as driving substantial traffic.

As Dunlap has pointed out in the past (it's worth repeating): "iPhone shoppers are 17x more likely to click find local than buy online."

What NearbyNow is doing with publishers is bringing them a new engagement and advertising platform that extends the reach of their brands and advertisers to demographically desirable audiences. 

YouTube Local: Google's Ingress into Mobile Video Content

Today, Brian Stelter in The New York Times reported that Google's YouTube property is adding "News Near You." it is a feature that uses Web servers' (and presumably mobile network operators') ability to assess geographic location to tailor video newsfeeds. Over time it will evolve into a local video news station thanks to a program by Google and YouTube to enlist participation of local media outlets. Stelter makes a Bay Areas start-up called VidSF into the poster child for the new service, but YouTube started the program months ago and has solicited content from over 25,000 organizations who have posted video news in the past. To fill the inventory, it touts video news from YouTube stalwarts AP, ABC News and Reuters.

To date, according to the Times' story, 200 news organizations have joined the effort. The lure is a split of advertising revenues that appear on the site. These are not significant today, but could grow as the Google search engine serves up links to YouTube in response to to searches on its much trafficked Web site. In addition YouTube itself sports robust search capabilities. 

In many ways, YouTube is giving structure - and perhaps a financial base - to an effort that has been haphazard. Stelter reports that the organizers of News Near You were surprised to find that several newspaper outlets, including the New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and Cincinatti Enquirer, were already posting video's to YouTube. What continues to be missing is a parallel effort to enlist local businesses or brands with local outlets to tailor their promotional messages to local viewers.

In short, there is a long way to go - in terms of content aggregation, audience building and proof of utility - before News Near You becomes a truly local resource but the technology elements are there.

Mobile TV Subscriptions "a Disaster," but Ads May Gain

On this blog I've been a big detractor of mobile TV -- the consumer pays subscription model that is. Mobile video viewing and usage will only go up but the prospects for charging people to watch shows on mobile devices will dim as they bump up against a wall of tepid or non-existent consumer demand.

Let me qualify this by saying that people may be willing to buy premium subscriptions that include TV as part of some larger offer (i.e., unlimited data). They may also pay for the ability to access events from time to time (e.g., world cup soccer). And in some cases they might pay their cable company some additional, nominal fee to get slingbox-like access to their TV on a smartphone. 

But the idea that millions and millions of users will pay $15-$30 per month more to get access to conventional TV programming on the small screen is not going to happen. Carriers that had been counting on developing a healthy additional revenue stream from TV subscriptions are not going to see big dollars, pounds, euros emerge. 

This quote from a recent Reuters story about the state of mobile TV sums it up:

"It is a financial disaster," said John Strand, a consultant who has followed the mobile [TV] industry closely for more than 12 years. "It's a nice product, but the customers won't pay for it."

There are just too many free sources of content and alternatives. And in a time of belt-tightening and recession mobile TV is a frivolous expense. However, ad-supported mobile video and TV may have a bright future. Users will be willing to watch video/TV commercials on mobile devices in exchange for free content -- like the traditional TV broadcast model. A recent Forbes piece offers some data on current ad rates for mobile TV:

The average cost for ads on mobile TV ranges from $5-$10 per thousand impressions for a banner ad and $30-$40 per thousand impressions for video.

This is where the action will be: free TV programming and video supported by ads or purchased directly without commercials (i.e., via iTunes).  

Zer01 Steps up Support of Direct Sales of Mobile VoIP

After premiering its "unlimited voice, data and Web mobile wireless service" at the CTIA Wireless in April, Zer01 started aggressively marketing its unlimited package for Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) to resell. With a target price of $69.95 per month, pre-paid with no contract required, this amounts to a test-case for all-you-can eat media consumption. Zer01 is a technology company that is wholly owned by Unified Technologies Group, Inc (UTGI)., a global technology services and consulting company. It has invested its time and resources in establishing interconnection agreements among wireless carriers in North America and around the globe. The first company offering the unlimited mobile VoIP service is GlobalVerge/Buzzkirk. If the service takes off, a direct beneficiary should be VoIP wholesaler Pervasip Corp.

Flo TV Lowers Price to Lure More Subs

Qualcomm's Flo TV service has dropped prices in an effort to gain more subscribers. According to the NY Times:

Bill Stone, who Qualcomm hired earlier this year to run its Flo TV business, said that the service has been too expensive. Especially because AT&T and Verizon tend to sell it in a package that includes other wireless video for $25 or $30 a month, half the price of a typical home cable TV bill.

Right now Qualcomm doesn’t set the retail price for service sold through phone companies. But soon later this year it will start selling directly to consumers with what Mr. Stone said will be more attractive prices. Customers will be able to subscribe on an annual plan for a price probably less than $10 a month. There may be one day passes for something like $5 and month-to-month subscriptions in the $10 a month range, he said.

In my view only sports, news and adult content will attract premium subscription dollars, given all the free video content that's now available in mobile including the anticipated launch of Hulu for the iPhone. 

MocoNews previously reported the estimates of research firm SNLKagan about mobile TV revenues and subscribers:

1. ESPN : $38.4 million.
2. MobiTV: $23.8 million.
3. MTV Mobile: $22.4 million.
4. CNN: $22 million.
5. Comedy Central: $20 million.  

MobiTV had 4.4 million subscribers in the U.S. for 2008. In the fourth quarter 2008, SNL estimates that Qualcomm’s MediaFLO had 239,000 subscribers, up from 40,000 in the same period a year earlier.

While mobile video continues to gain users, price remains a major obstacle to mobile TV subscriptions, as we've previously discussed.

In our most recent North American consumer survey we found limited interest in mobile TV (n=611, March 2009).

Note that 7% said "yes" and 18% said "depends on cost." Five percent said "depends on service quality." So we could extrapolate that roughly 30% of the mobile market has at least some degree of interest in mobile TV. Execution, quality and pricing here are thus critical in gaining subscribers.

Nielsen: Mobile Video Exceeding Online Video

Last week, Nielsen put out its quarterly three screen report tracking video viewing. Here's the data to support the headline above:

[T]he average American watches approximately 153 hours of TV every month at home, a 1.2% increase from last year. In addition, the 131 million Americans who watch video on the Internet watch on average about 3 hours of video online each month at home and work. The 13.4 million Americans who watch video on mobile phones watch on average about 3 ½ hours of mobile video each month.

(emphasis added.)

According to Nielsen, those 12-17 watch double the average amount of video on their mobile phones: 6+ hours monthly. 

Comedy and weather (that's right, weather) are the video categories most watched on mobile phones, says Nielsen.

All this mobile video includes downloaded content from sources like the iTunes store. Notwithstanding the rise in video viewing on mobile devices there remains little appetite for subscription based TV on mobile phones. In our most recent consumer survey only 7% expressed interest in mobile TV, while the large majority said no and some said it would depend on cost and/or quality. 

See also: Price the Barrier to Mobile Video Adoption

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Related: Direct movie and TV downloads coming to the iPhone? 

SlingPlayer Now Available on iPhone

It's the last of the major smartphone platforms to get SlingPlayer Mobile, but the iPhone now has one -- for $29.99. You've got to have the SlingBox at home, but it allows users to access their cable TV on the go without additional subscription fees. The only catch is that you've got to be on a WiFi connection; it won't work on AT&T's network.

Hulu is reportedly coming out with an iPhone app as well. 

Why is this important or significant? Smartphone users continue to consume more and more video on their handsets. But price remains the central barrier to subscription-based mobile TV services. (However we recently found a majority of mobile users were not interested in "mobile TV.")

Free or ad-supported mobile video services or those such as the one from SlingMedia will eventually crowd out all but a small number of the paid "mobile TV" services. I would also expect the cable companies to eventually try and offer a Sling-like mobile video/TV service perhaps as part of an upsell package. But they may be very slow in doing so.

Hulu iPhone App to Kill Subscription Model for Mobile TV?

Mobile video continues to grow in popularity and adoption -- but not the subscription model for "mobile TV." In terms of consumer-pays models, one could imagine that movie rental services might have a future on mobile devices. In addition, companies can potentially extend their offerings to mobile (where consumers might be willing to pay a small additional monthly fee for access to the service), although the SlingMedia mobile apps enable consumers to watch their home TV on mobile devices.

What I'm wondering is whether the rumored Hulu iPhone app may effectively be the penultimate nail in the coffiin of paid mobile TV services such as MediaFLO TV, VCast and others.

There are now a range of free, mobile video sites and offerings such as CBS's TV.com, YouTube, Joost, Truveo and a couple of others. The subscription services had an uphill battle to begin with, given that we're in a recession and users don't want to pay additional fees for a generally medicore experience on their mobile handsets.

The proliferation of free video sites will make it that much harder to get subscribers to pay anything for access to mobile video content. Sports and adult content are the possible exceptions.

More TV networks and local stations will also be airing free video. Last week NBC reported:

NBC.com's mobile website served 2.4 million video streams in Q1 2009. That is more than the total number of streams served in all of 2008. And Q1 2009 was the mobile site's highest quarter yet, seeing 24 million page views, a 64 per cent increase over Q4 2008.

While a subscriber-pays model can co-exist with ad-supported mobile video in the context of full-length movies and several other kinds of programming, as it does on cable TV, the market will be dominated by ad-supported offerings -- especially as TV producers and networks try and sell their advertisers reach into mobile as part of their overall proposition. 

The premium mobile TV offerings that require a distinct subscription will likely turn into marginal or highly verticalized or niche offerings -- unless they become part of an upsell to "all you can eat" bundle that includes other incentives. 

SlingPlayer Coming to iPhone Very Soon

SlingMedia's mobile player is available for almost all the smartphone platforms, including the iPhone. It's just not out as an iPhone app -- yet. That should change very soon. The company says the app is under review by Apple.

Owners of iPhones watch quite a bit more video than do other mobile phone users, and the SlingPlayer should be an enormous hit on the device. If US cable companies were smart they would all emulate this and make their content available via apps on smartphones.

Indeed I would think that SlingMedia is an acquisition target by one of them (or perhaps Dish Network). 

There's lots of consumer interest in video and TV content on mobile devices; however, pricing remains the challenge and obstacle to adoption. Of course the beauty of the SlingPlayer is that you pay for the device itself (maybe the app too) and there are no additional subscription fees associated with usage. You also watch the content on your home TV not some limited or random selection of someone else's picks. 

Mobile TV as a separate subscription is all but dead, as people will be able to get more and more video content on mobile devices for a tiny fee or no cost. 

Google Passes on Twitter? & Android TV

TechCrunch posts the transcript of a Charlie Rose interview with Google CEO Eric Schmidt. In it, among other things, Schmidt talks about rumors regarding Google's potential interest in acquring Twitter and about mobile TV.

Here's what Schmidt said about Twitter:

Charlie Rose:
You also bought YouTube. You have Google news. We’re in a time now, and we’re going to talk a lot about the economy in this conversation because of the roles you have. Acquisitions come up. People are excited these days, the lost several months about Twitter. Does Google want to buy Twitter.

Eric Schmidt:
I shouldn’t talk about specific acquisitions. We’re unlikely to buy anything in the short term partly because I think prices are still high. And it’s unfortunate I think we’re in the middle of a cycle. Google is generating a lot of cash. And so we keep that cash in extremely secure banks.

Schmidt is also quite bullish on the outlook for "mobile TV":

Eric Schmidt: Well, in our case we’re building the platform that will allow the content people to do more targeted content. So you can imagine the mobile device will say, well, Eric, you watched this episode of this television show, we’ll offer you this other one. Or didn’t you forget that you already watched that episode of Charlie Rose? You should watch this other one because it’s related to the one you liked. This personal viewing experience is a fundamental thing that the Internet can do, and companies like Google can do.

People are watching more and more mobile video; whether the concept of "personalized TV" comes to fruition on mobile devices is another matter. 

When Schmidt talks about the future it's typically conceptual. He won't talk about Google's intended actions or products. He speaks generally about whether Google is seeing certain kinds of activity, etc. 

He's of course right when he speaks about the potential of mobile devices to offer customized or personalized content and programming. The context of the TV-related quote above is a discussion of the Kindle, which is itself a fascinating device and points the way to an Internet tablet distinct from current mobile smartphones. 

Schmidt's remarks about Twitter suggest that the company has considered the acquisition carefully and is evaluating how much it would take to successfully acquire it. It may not be placing as much of a value on Twitter as its investors are. Google bought two Twitter-like services (Jaiku, Zingku) and failed to develop them successfully.

Twitter is now a bona fide cultural phenomenon, however, and Google could quickly monetize its "searches" and page views. It would also preempt something that may be emerging (in the mobile context) as a partial threat to search. So we shouldn't see Schmidt's statement above as anything necessarily definitive about Google's intentions regarding Twitter. 

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Related: Analytis company Ominuture is offering monitoring of "brand activity" on Twitter. I suspect it charts mentions of brands and products on Twitter and shows up or down trends.