Mobile Content to Boom in 2009, says Screen Digest

Media analyst Screen Digest has released its forecasts for key media markets in 2009, which look at the impact of the recession on these markets. In addition to looking at the home entertainment (including TV viewing and videogames), and cinema industries, the forecasts also cover mobile. Screen Digest concludes that as consumers start to reduce their mobile phone bills, premium content such as Mobile TV and video on demand will be the first to go. With their planned launches of entertainment on hold, the company says, operators and handset manufacturers will offer more ‘free’ bundled subscriptions, using music content as a value-add to attract and retain customers and aggressively pushing mobile broadband as a viable alternative to fixed-line Internet.
“Content providers will be looking at application stores such as Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market to compensate for the loss they will make on mobile operators’ portals,” says Screen Digest Head of Mobile, Ronan de Renesse. “The economic downturn will push operators to release their grasp on the mobile content industry and open up mobile Internet. So against all odds, 2009 will turn out to become the most successful year for mobile content so far.”