Comments on: Thinking About MobiTV’s $100 million

By: Karib Corner-Blog Reports » Blog Archive » Let’s Just Declare TV Dead and Move On

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 08:34:41 +0000

[...] The Current Options TV from three major studios to go P2P The Stars Align for The Venice Project Thinking About MobiTV’s $100 million Filed under: Tech [...]

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:33:34 +0000

WOW - check out http://www.viewmy.tv , its got Free AlJazeera in English !!!!!!!!

By: Richard Marx

Richard Marx — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:08:40 +0000

There seems to be a lot of wrongly directed interest in video over the Internet when video is a small component of the overall multimedia and next generation communications revolution. You need to look at the big picture and see what Nokia and Ericsson are doing as well as Enea. The coming 3GSM show in Barcelona should be very exciting as the potential of the “always connected” world becomes closer to an affordable reality.

By: Patricia

Patricia — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 19:23:20 +0000

^ to me this is a given. the big question of course is what all of us will do with this. the user is an important component but people can be led - business is already pointing us in a bunch of directions, driving adoption, use, etc., i don’t anticipate this will change much as internet tv develops and big players continue to come into the picture.

By: Bob Jacobson

Bob Jacobson — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 15:14:10 +0000

“Internet” plus “TV” does not equal “Internet TV.”

A large part of the “viewing” experience has nothing to do with viewing, per se. It has to do with the environment in which viewing takes place, the social setting, the camaraderie or tension among the viewers, what the viewers were doing before viewing, what they’re doing while viewing, what they expect to be doing next, and range of factors that are even more global.

When you liberate the viewing experience from the living room or the bar, and make it transportable — not just physically, but also experientially — and then you add interaction, you are dealing with a largely new phenomenon. “TV” just doesn’t cover it.

Techies tend to focus on the technicalities of providing liberated, interactive viewing experiences. Good conversation. An equally challenging and perhaps more informative conversation, in terms of its consequences, would be to talk about what people will experience in this new audio-visual environment, how they’ll use it, and how they’ll be reshaped by it, individually and collectively.

Oh, there’s no SocialCrunch? Too bad. C’mon over to Total Experience, on Corante.com, sometime.

By: Marcus

Marcus — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 22:29:01 +0000

>>You can watch 24 channels on a PC, but only if you are accessing the Internet from an AT&T Wi-Fi hot spot. Thats a product of little use.>>>

*ACTUALLY* the AT&T Broadband TV product is available from any broadband connection, not just WiFi as Michael says.

Also in terms of the “holy grail” of TV services, that being a 3-screen solution, it seems MobiTV has already deployed it’s mobile service on Cingular (about to become AT&T again) and on the PC platform with AT&T. Pretty cool.

By: John C

John C — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 22:17:18 +0000

“IPTV can finally “democratize the airwaves” by leveling the play-field between the established media networks and user-generated channels.”

You’re dead on with this one. I give it 6 to 7 years max before we start to see some revolutionary shit coming to TVs everywhere.

What thrills me the most is the fact that most content over the internet isn’t edited for cussing, nudity, sexual content, etc. I could totally see myself sitting on sitting on the couch watching something totally ridiculous going on just around the corner from my house.

By: lemon obrien

lemon obrien — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 19:40:28 +0000

i went to their website; and, well, its sucks…and i was totally surprised..b/c they’re a media/tv company. I mean suck in that it wouldn’t load properly…and was extremely slow.

By: Lost Remote TV Blog

Lost Remote TV Blog — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 19:30:09 +0000

[...] TechCrunch is thinking about MobiTV’s latest $30 million round of investment, which added to the $70 million it had already raised, adds up to a cool $100 million. “That’s a lot of money for a startup that lets some people watch a few TV shows on their cell phones,” he writes. “I’m wondering if MobiTV has a major announcement to make in the near future.” His hypothesis? An all-in-one service that allows people to watch TV via the internet on mobile devices, PCs, laptops and their TV sets. [...]

By: ian

ian — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 19:25:37 +0000

i agree with what dave zatz said (and not just cos i work at orb) - ESPECIALLY since the very notion of “TV” has been exploded, the idea of doing yet another old broadcast-model play with new tools seems… outdated

we see the world as already being vectored towards a “mycasting” model, which subsumes traditional broadcasting AND new stuff like youtube videos into one set of MY MEDIA that i can get anywhere

when i can already get all that via my EXISTING investments in mobile data, in the content i bring into my home, etc. why will i pay an additional mobile-specific fee to get the content i want on mobile?

if i couldn’t get that content in any other way, however - say, WEEI gameday audio for a Sox game or TV content that’s not available at home or on the PC web - then that’s a special fee for special content; what mobiTV is doing with AT&T is probably more interesting than the mobile-broadcast work that’s the core of their CURRENT biz; the question is whether there’s a sustainable role for a generalized content intermediary in an IPTV world…

By: Jason M. Lemkin

Jason M. Lemkin — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 18:31:54 +0000

On the one hand, $100m is amazing. On the other, this is a space every VC etc. and lots of corporate investors want to invest in (video, also mobile). Where there is capital to deploy, it will flow to the place of least resistance . . .

By: Brooklyn

Brooklyn — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 17:56:19 +0000

Who the hell does Ingram think he is questioning why MobiTV and its investors are funding it in the manner they wish.? Is he some overlord or techno-scold who must pass judgement before actions such as these are deemed “smart” or in the “best interest of the community?”

By: Brian McConnell

Brian McConnell — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 17:53:29 +0000

I just don’t see where MobiTV is providing much of value when most mobile phones now in the pipeline directly support formats like MP3, MPEG 4, and 3GPP, and since content providers can easily stream direct to end users, without going through a middleman like MobiTV. Getting basic cable and Muzak ™ on my phone for an extra $10-20 per month just seems like a non-starter to me.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 17:17:16 +0000

Mobi already has competition from vdc.com and a whole new model of free distribution at whooda.com. Both have contract with content providers, with many more coming in the next few weeks. They provide better service, higher resolution (bigger streams) to cell phones, PCs, etc. and they spent about $99 million less than mobi, which is an inferior product. Go figure.

By: Democratizing Airwaves with User-Generated TV Channels « SplashCast - Social Media Syndication

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 15:50:45 +0000

[...] While I think Michael Arrington at Techcrunch is partially correct in his assertion that the convergence of TV across all devices (traditional TV, PCs, and mobile devices) is the real win in the IPTV race. But I think he too is missing the bigger picture. [...]

By: Michael Berkley

Michael Berkley — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 15:49:45 +0000

Mike, while I think you are partially correct that the convergence of TV across all devices (traditional TV, PCs, and mobile devices) is a win in the IPTV race, I think you may be missing the bigger story.

The promise of IPTV is not to create a more convenient television experience, it is to completely redefine what television is. IPTV can finally “democratize the airwaves” by leveling the play-field between the established media networks and user-generated channels.

For example, emerging services like SplashCast (http://www.splashcast.net) will enable anyone to create their own media channel, syndicating content they’ve either created or aggregated to any web site. With IPTV, the reach will expand from web sites to television sets. As a TV viewer, you will be able to flip between NBC Nightly News, the Techcrunch channel (to watch the daily vodcast), the Justin Timberlake channel (to get footage of him eating breakfast IHOP — paid for by IHOP), the Barack Obama channel (to get the latest scoop on his presidential ambitions), and your brother’s channel (where your 4-year-old nephew is the star).

By: rafi spero

rafi spero — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 15:29:05 +0000

Slingbox will kill them if the cable companies dont perform the massacre themselves. Slingbox has proven that getting tv on to your phone is not that difficult. Enjoy the 100m.

By: Tech Blog

Tech Blog — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 14:53:37 +0000

Uh, 100 Million - is alot of money. Ya know it seems that the business model is now probably to start a start-up. Get round A funding, prove a little success (becoming less and less necessary) then Get major 2+ million in funding.

- the Ceo’s never have to work again! , They can retire…

I do hope their is some safe guards in place where the founders / CEO or whoever is the ‘owner’ can’t walk away with his share; he shouldn’t be vested until some goals have been reached…

- This is proof of the bubble; its getting bigger everyday -

By: Dave Zatz

Dave Zatz — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 13:55:50 +0000

I already get all kinds of cable TV on my computer via the likes of Slingbox and Orb without a monthly fee. Why should I pay for the same content multiple times?

By: media politics

media politics — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 13:44:14 +0000

Thinking About MobiTV’s $100 million…

There was a bit of buzz a couple of days ago about MobiTV raising another $30 million in capital, adding to it’s already whopping $70 million from previous financings. That’s a lot of money for a startup that lets some people watch a few TV shows o…

By: The Original Sims :: Mobi TV :: November :: 2006

The Original Sims :: Mobi TV :: November :: 2006 — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 12:43:09 +0000

[...] techcrunch.com/ [...]

By: Amit Chowdhry

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 12:20:19 +0000

Wow, I didn’t notice how many grammar mistakes I had in the first comment. Should actually say:

Another competitive advantage for MobiTV is that Adobe Systems gave out a chunk of money for MobiTV’s success. With Adobe being the one that is keeping YouTube and Google Video alive, I’m sure Adobe will do their part in ensuring that they provide Flash technology for MobiTV wireless services at a low-cost.

By: mobitv « Technically Speaking

mobitv « Technically Speaking — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 11:59:11 +0000

[...] $100 million total for the company. Why? mobitv - That seems to be the question everyone is pondering, but still they have $30 million to add to that $70 million and now - $100 million later - I hope the article is right in speculating that they have a big announcement soon! [...]

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 11:01:23 +0000

I don’t think the technology or market is ready to embrace mobile TV. I hope they milk that money.

By: Michael Arrington

Michael Arrington — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 10:52:01 +0000

Collin - heh. No, I actually played with the image quite a bit but that was the best I could do. Probably should have made it a smaller image. I’ll get the TechCrunch Image Enhancement Team on it first thing in the morning.