British sky Broadcasting Group PLC's mobile television service tie-up with Vodafone Group PLC has supplied more than 5 million live-TV transmissions since its November launch, BSkyB Chief Executive James Murdoch said Wednesday.
Answering questions put to him by readers on daily newspaper the Financial Times' Web site, Murdoch said that "being able to watch channels like
sky Sports News live on your mobile has proved a big success."
But he conceded mobile TV was at an early stage.
"We don't know yet what is going to work best - whether that is the underlying technology, the business model or the content that appeals most strongly," Murdoch said.
"We're working with a variety of different partners, including all of the U.K. mobile operators, as well as manufacturers who are moving forward in this space," he said.
Mobile technology offers possibilities beyond mobile broadcasting, such as setting up a TV recording remotely using a mobile phone, he said.
BSkyB operates a satellite-TV platform and the U.K.'s largest pay-TV service, with almost eight million subscribers.
Murdoch said he expects subscriptions to remain the core revenue stream for BSkyB. He said advertising represents 8% of revenue, while betting and gaming accounts for around 6% of revenue.
"So, overall, we see subscription at the core, with additional revenues from advertising and other services growing on the back of this. Importantly, we think this is the most sustainable model for investment in high-quality programming," Murdoch said on the Web site.
Source: Cellular-news