Audience for Mobile Video Expanding Rapidly in the United States

Viral content posts strongest growth, at 36 percent from January to August, programmed video audience grew by 28 percent in same period

SAN FRANCISCO and LONDON — M:Metrics, the mobile media authority, today released its latest figures on the mobile video market in the United States, and reports that the audience is growing at an impressive rate. At eight million in August, the total audience for those who viewed mobile video, either from the carrier deck or video content sent by a friend or family member, grew by 34 percent from January of this year.

With 6.8 million viewers, viral video is the most popular type of video content in the U.S., a figure that increased by 36 percent since January. The audience viewing programmed mobile video, meaning video content delivered on-deck over the carrier network, stands at 2.7 million, up 28 percent from the beginning of the year.

“This data is very encouraging news for the growth of mobile as an advertising-supported medium,” said Seamus McAteer, chief product architect and senior analyst, M:Metrics. “Clearly, there is the foundation of a market for premium paid video content, which underlies the potentially much more substantial opportunity for free ad supported material.”

Those who are tuning into mobile TV watch short-format or news-related content. Music videos are the most popular genre of on-demand TV content, followed by movie trailers, weather and sports. Still an early-adopter market, the audience skews toward young males. With 9.7 percent of 18-24-year-olds watching mobile video, this group is more than two and a half times more likely to watch video of some kind on their mobile device.

“The sizable growth of operator-programmed mobile TV in the United States, where the audience has expanded by 28 percent from January to August 2007, is due to the aggressive promotion of these services, broader diffusion of 3G handsets and a deeper focus from content companies,” observed McAteer. “Sprint’s performance is particularly noteworthy, as the carrier’s subscribers comprise more than 36 percent of the total audience for programmed video. Its early entry into mobile video combined with its support of a multitude of video-capable handsets continues to pay dividends.”

M:Metrics applies trusted media measurement methodologies to assess the audience for mobile content and applications. As the world’s most authoritative mobile media measurement firm, M:Metrics delivers the most accurate mobile market metrics through the world’s largest monthly survey of mobile subscribers as well as automated data collection methodologies. In the full release are the findings of its July Benchmark Survey.