Posts Tagged ‘BBC’

BBC Shuts WAP Mobile Web Sites (UK)

Posted: January 13, 2011 in Media & Entertainment, Mobile Internet, Mobile Platforms, Mobile Technology, Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , ,
0

The UK based BBC has announced that it has closed its old WAP mobile internet site.

According to BBC, it made the decision based on value for money and usage of the service compared to other services available. Two years ago, WML made up 20% of the BBC mobile internet traffic – today it is less than 1%. In light of the traffic decline, the BBC stated that it cannot justify the expense of maintaining the WML version for an ever-decreasing number of users. They have therefore decided to focus development on the standard XHTML mobile site.

Those devices that support XHTML will be redirected to the XHTML mobile site. People using older WAP phones will get the following message if they try to visit the WAP sites: “We’ve now closed the WML version of BBC Online. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this causes you. However, if your phone supports XHTML, then you can still access BBC Mobile.

In the UK, BT Cellnet (now O2) was heavily criticized within the industry for running marketing campaigns promoting the new WAP phones as having internet like services, when in fact it was a heavily cut down version of what people were expecting to see.

Via: http://wirelessfederation.com/news/33318-bbc-shuts-wap-mobile-web-sites-uk/

Behind BBC Trust’s Apps Decision: Paid Apps Are Screwed Anyway

Posted: July 23, 2010 in Digital Marketing, Industry News, Information communications technology, Media & Entertainment, Mobile Applications, Mobile Handsets, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Internet, Mobile Phones, Mobile Technology, Smartphones
Tags: , , , ,
2

By Robert Andrews
twitter @robertandrewsJul 23, 2010 7:22 AM ET

A market assessment commissioned by the BBC Trust to help it decide whether the BBC should release smartphone apps came to a view many will find surprising: that the paid apps goldrush will be extinguished by the mobile web in a few short years.

According to the report from consultancy Mediatique…

“We conclude that the availability of content for free online, which is increasingly accessible via web browsers affording re-purposed content via mobile devices, will make it harder over time for content suppliers to charge for apps that provide access to content available online for free; the advantages of apps (bespoke mobile-purposed content, findability, novelty) will therefore reduce over time.

“Only 25% of apps on Apple’s App Store are free, but these generate 77% of usage. Not all analysts expect the market for apps to continue growing and see mobile web browsing as a more effective consumer proposition over the longer term.”

“The BBC would be entering a market that is already trending toward free apps (in news, sport and long-form video content) and is likely to trend further in that direction over time, irrespective of the BBC’s entry.”

No-one’s denying the trend toward free consumer content on the desktop web. It’s been possible to charge for mobile app versions, in my view, because they repackage that web content for the palm for the first time, and because there’s no pre-existing free-content culture on mobile.

Neither is anyone ignoring the likely improvements that will be made to mobile web apps in the coming years, especially on Android. But it’s stretching optimism a bit far for Mediatique to say that free content will prevail on mobile in the same way it has on the desktop.

Sure, many leading news publishers’ apps are already free, funded by some nascent ad sales or sponsorships. But, if you take Mediatique’s expectation as a rule, many app developers and publishers alike might as well pack up and go home – or else pray that someone’s working on a web apps store as commercially viable as iTunes Store is today

URL Link:

http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-behind-bbc-trusts-apps-decision-paid-apps-are-screwed-anyway/

BBC iPlayer – 7 Million Mobile Requests in June

Posted: July 22, 2010 in Digital Marketing, Industry News, Information communications technology, Internet, Media & Entertainment, Mobile Industry News, Mobile Internet, Mobile TV, Smartphones, Telecommunications
Tags: ,
0

By Miles J Thomas on 22nd July, 2010

The BBC iPlayer has received an increase in users accessing the iPlayer via their smartphones and mobiles. NewMediaAge has reported that last month saw an increase in mobile requests for the iPlayer. There were 7 million requests from mobile devices in June.

BBC iPlayer - 7 Million Mobile Requests in June

This represents an increase of 1 million mobile requests over May. Of course, this is likely boosted by world cup viewings but none the less it is another indicator that people are moving towards the mobile internet in preference to the internet.

URL Link:

http://www.3g.co.uk/PR/July2010/bbc-iplayer-7-million-mobile-requests-in-june.html