Mobile TV Past and Present to Future

Mobile TV, also known as MTV, enables users to stream content provided by cutting-edge companies such as OONA - the YouTube of television. OONA's high tech OTT platform is designed to revolutionize the way viewers watch TV, and enables them to enjoy fantastic free entertainment on the go. Yet this form of portable TV has come a very long way since 1977, when British inventor Clive Sinclair, unveiled the world's very first pocket sized mobile television. So you may be asking yourself why the 2 inch thick, sharp black and white Sinclair MTV-1 Micro TV did not take off. Well, the simple answer is that the technology was a million miles from where it is today.

Today, the 2018 MTVS which include smart phones, tablets and ipods, have massive advantages over their forerunners. Their cutting-edge technology is second to none, and includes the digital television (DTV) revolution which arrived around 2006, and systematically made analog transmission redundant. The former transmits TV audio and video signals via digital encoding, as opposed to analog TV technology and signals. In fact, this great transformation constitutes the first profound TV evolution since the 1950s, when black and white televisions magically transformed to glorious colour [1].

Digital television has brought with it many state-of-the-art features that were unthinkable before, and is able to use the same bandwidth to transmit multiple channels. This runs in sharp contrast to analog, which could only transmit one [2]. On top of this, better reception, bigger screens and great portability are the new norm, and MTV with the help of regulated platforms like OONA, is becoming the name of the game all over the globe. The superior larger screen versions make viewing our favourite shows, films, serials, live sports and news channels, such as the hundreds of free channels offered via the OONA by Telkom Indonesia app, far more fun.

Today's MTV offers exciting additional applications, and enables viewers to have fun with interactive TV featuring specific content tailored to the mobile medium. For example, OONA users enjoy a brilliant personalized service with hundreds of choices all in one place, and this saves them a lot of time searching. They are empowered with a seamless experience of live and linear channels; never have to miss out on any important events, can watch offline when they are out of signal, and can capture, edit and share for fun. Consumers also have an in App genie: a personalised friendly chatbot assistant who works to optimize each individual's content and advertising preferences; and users can even get rewarded from all the ads they watch by receiving OONA / Telkom tcoins that they can redeem for Telkom Indonesia products and branded goods.

The MTV age is most definitely upon us. According to the 2017 ConsumerLab TV and Media Report commissioned by Ericsson: “Around 70 percent of consumers watch TV and video on a smartphone today – twice as many as in 2012” [3]. Moreover, TV couch potatoes are getting into gear, as: “By 2020, only 1 in 10 consumers will be stuck watching TV only on a traditional screen, a 50 percent decrease compared to 2010” [3]. And the Indonesia Market is now passing the 4 hour average daily time spend on smartphones, and over 50% of this time accounts for video viewing.

The thrilling and ever growing MTV market is systematically becoming a big part of billions of people's lives, and innovative providers such as OONA by Telkom Indonesia, who work to inspire, are always looking for new ways to give users even more fun. Enjoy!

OONA's Founder and CEO, leading digital strategist, Christophe Hochart, has said that his: "inspiration for OONA is to build a strong media ecosystem equilibrium where Content Owners will enjoy a very healthy business model, and where consumers will get what they like when they like, and be rewarded."

References

Photo credit: Felipe Miranda and Alberto Chaves

1. Kruger, L. G. (2001). Digital Television: An Overview. Hauppauge. New York: Nova Publishers. Accessed 30 Nov. 2017.

2. Disabled World (n.d.). “HDTV Set Top Boxes and Digital TV Broadcast Information.” Retrieved from: https://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/digital-hdtv.shtml Accessed 30 Nov. 2017.

3. Ericsson (2017).  “TV and Media 2017.” Retrieved from: https://www.ericsson.com/en/networked-society/trends-and-insights/consumerlab/consumer-insights/reports/tv-and-media-2017