Steve Watson is the head of mobile content services at Legion Interactive.

mo:life:
Where’s the money? Is it all going to come from teenage SMS voting and SMS spamming?

Steve Watson:
Until recently, the incorporation of mobile phones in television programs has predominantly been driven by competitions and voting processes. 2004 witnessed and 2005 is continuing to witness the expansion of interactivity in television programming with such things as real time SMS interaction and the opportunity for viewers at home to play along with contestants. There has also been, and there will continue to be, an increase in the worm-type response mechanism via SMS and the incorporation of mobile content applications attuned to such programs as music shows. In Australia, there are strict regulations and codes of practice in place, such as the Mobile Marketing Code of Practice, that prevent spamming activities and measures are in place to ensure that all broadcasts are permission based. The sale of content from TV based advertising has seen an onslaught with some advertisers running up to 1 spot per 8 minutes, 24 hours a day on one channel, or in monetary terms mobile content promoters are spending in excess of $3.2 million dollars per month on Cable TV.

mo:life:
Will mobile phones mature this year as a medium for diverse content delivery?

Steve Watson:
The Australian Premium Rate SMS market is estimated to be worth more than $120m per annum and growing. In 2005 I predict that the premium services market will generate revenue growth of 250%. While on the deck, or from handset purchasing, will be a key driver of content growth, off the deck purchasing will also play an important role. The near future will see strong growth from Carrier portals such as My Vodafone, Optus Zoo with their Arcade platform, OrangeMobile, ‘3′, Virgin, Boost and Telstra along with Telstra iMode all set to strongly contribute to content downloads. WAP will continue to expand as a valid delivery platform moving through to 3G and 3D content propositions as the year progresses. When it comes to payment models for content, there are a wide variety of options including Premium Rate SMS, subscription models, content plans linked with mobile plans and URL billing. The growth of mobile content will largely be fueled by the uptake of enabled, connected devices and will in turn expand the increasing acceptance that content is now mainstream.

Generally the outlook for mobile marketing is very strong but it needs to be considered as part of the overall mix. We are seeing a strong increase in the use of mobile marketing in Australia but at the same time regulation is being introduced to protect consumers often restricting access to certain in demand content streams. As mobile handset technology improves and “enabled” handset penetration reaches higher levels, the opportunities for mobile marketing will increase dramatically. With Consumers recognising the ease of use within the respective mobile wireless channels, carriers are in the box seat to realise substantial increases in ARPU.

Mobile content is growing at incredible rates with mobile gaming fast approaching mass-market acceptance.

mo:life:
Where’re the blocks? What has to change for 3G to really take off?

The real question is does ‘joe public’ NEED the 3G mobile experience or are they even interested in extending their phone to another level way beyond calling and texting. To date the mobile phone is being touted as a 24×7 entertainment device on the 2.5G platform. What will it be on 3G - a mini tv? With 3G there will be roadblocks that will only be exacerbated by the new platform:

* Inflexible credit controls imposed by carriers to ‘protect’ the consumer
* Over regulation - eg content classification will it stifle uptake of video and other related content primed for 3G
* Slow adoption of technology by Carriers
* Handset up take by consumers
* Further confusion on pricing
* Revenue share for Premium Rate services by content suppliers
* Enablement of consumer’s device
* Customer acceptance/take up

mo:life:
How did the Law and Order interactive experiment go? There hasn’t been much news about it. Can you tell us numbers and outcomes?

Steve Watson:
… Unfortunately, we are not able to release any voting stats etc. (Steve did provide us with the press release for the Law and Order event. But that didn’t tell us whether it was an abject failure or not. Eds)

mo:life:
Has SMS killed interactive television?

Steve Waston :
No, it has opened up opportunities for further brand extension via mobile content associated with key programming such as X Factor, Australian Idol and Big Brother in particular. Viewers are still actively embracing interactivity and will continue to do so whilst unique concepts and quality content are produced.

The promotion of mobile content associated with TV based reality shows has proven to be positive from both consumer uptake and also extension of the brand. With Idol, both viewers and the wider public could download wallpapers and ringtones associated with contestants as well as play their own ‘idol’ mobile game.