Tablets to rule as ‘explosion’ of video gets delivered to non-TV devices

Joseph O'Halloran ©RapidTVNews | 07-12-2011



New Yankee Group research is predicting 2012 promises to be a year of challenges, change and disruption to the mobility, market but tablets will dominate the mobile TV arena.

In a widespread analysis of the mobility market, Yankee Group sees the mobile industry preparing for a year of uncertainty and global transition. Yet it predicts that in 2012 mobile consumers will embrace tablets, mobile content, mobile video and personal cloud services at unprecedented levels.
Moreover, Yankee Group believes OTT players such as Microsoft and Sony are providing alternatives to cable/satellite and that the level of content available to tablet owners will increase exponentially in the next twelve months.
Indeed the analysis forecasts that video consumption on tablets will more than double in the first six months as part of an explosion of video being delivered to non-TV devices. It adds that the combination of increased use of TV Everywhere/authenticated content models by pay-TV providers and new brand-name entrants in the over-the-top (OTT) video space will create a significant increase in the amount of video being delivered to tablets as operators of all stripes push to satisfy the growing desire of consumers to watch their content in any location.
Yankee Group’s analysts expects TV Everywhere/authenticated content models that include streaming to tablets to provide the most important boost to the level of video being delivered to the devices. It argues that the model is well understood and already has significant buy-in from content owners that view it as a way to preserve their existing revenue streams while potentially opening up future income avenues. DirecTV, Time Warner and Cablevision are cited as principal examples of subscription TV operators who have launched video streaming to tablets and who are using the application as a differentiator when marketing their services.
To capitalise on this opportunity, Yankee Group recommends that pay-TV providers push content partners for licensing deals that allow consumers to extend the home-based viewing experience to other locations. It adds that even though many content owners are comfortable with the TV Everywhere/authenticated model, there is also evidence that OTT avenues are continued sources of opportunity for others, particularly in the sports category.