BBC: Mobile TV viewers in Norway will be served personalised adverts as part of a two-month trial. Banner adverts will be sent to mobile phones and tailored to the individual user under the trial by broadcaster NRK, a mobile TV pioneer.
“Advertisers see value in people being interested in certain products in a given context,” said Gunnar Garfors, director of development at NRK. (…)
“Most people who watch mobile TV in Norway do so because they are bored somewhere, on transport, or waiting,” said Mr Garfors. “You can assume they are near a shop or service which may be relevant.”
The TV and radio stations are streamed to the phones over a 3G phone network and are “near-live with a few seconds’ delay.
Mobile TV is a growing market that is yet to hit the mainstream partly because of cost and partly because of competing mobile TV standards. Unlike other “live TV services” on the market, the NRK trial is streaming video rather than broadcasting it.
According to research firm eMarketer there are 44.5 million 3G subscribers worldwide who watch mobile TV on their phone. Their report predicts the number will double each year, reaching 520.9 million by 2009. (…)
Mr Garfors said: “We know lots about the viewers; we have their phone numbers, their name, sex and where they live. “We can also determine their presumed interests when we see what they watch or listen to and what times they do it. And we know where they are geographically because of positioning technology.
When we put this all together we have a fair amount of relevant information which can give them more relevant advertising material.” (…)