SlingPlayer Mobile Comes to the iPhone
Another nail in the coffin of subscription-based mobile TV, Sling Media announced (months after the demo had come out) that its SlingPlayer Mobile will be available for the iPhone in Q1. The player is already available for all the other smartphone operating systems except Android.
What it enables is the viewing of any content from cable TV on PC or, now, mobile device.
Expect cable TV companies to eventually either buy Sling and/or make this capability available to mobile users themselves. As we've argued before, mobile video will be hugely popular but people are unlikely to pay for subscription-based "mobile TV" as a separate item.
This move represents the further "untethering" of video from the TV screen. Indeed, the demand for and consumption of video on PCs continues to climb. Here are the most recent (US) comScore numbers (12.7 bn videos streamed in Nov. 08):
Online video viewing will eventually translate into mobile on smartphones (especially in cases with a great screen such as the BlackBerry Bold or the iPhone). The only question surrounds the precise revenue model that will take hold.
Carriers will potentially get the benefit of increased adoption of unlimited data plans to accomodate the behavior.