Virgin’s initial Mobile TV venture falls flat

[Hands0n]

Well, I tried it and I can say that it is entirely naff. TV over DAB just does not work at all reliably. Contrast with Vodafone's TV over 3G which works flawlessly in a 3G area, one can safely assume that TV/DAB is a non-starter.

Despite being a unique feature at launch Virgin Mobile’s DAB TV has so far flopped, and high cost ad campaigns featuring Pamela Anderson have yet to stimulate sales.

We wrote about the Virgin TV Mobile (VMTV) back in September 2006 and you may have seen their recent ad campaign featuring Pamela Anderson advertising the Lobster 700 TV mobile phone. It seems the campaign hasn’t been very successful and Virgin has sold fewer than 10,000 handsets.

Beauty is skin deep and, let’s face it, the Lobster phone isn’t exactly a fashionable stylish looking mobile. It is eye catching but for the wrong reasons, the large hump on the side of the handset isn’t an attractive feature and makes the handset look like a bulky 80’s retro mobile phone.

Although the handset isn’t much to look at, its unique selling point of being able to play live TV also seems to be unpopular. This is contrary to many consumer surveys indicated that Mobile TV could be a big hit.

Rival networks seem to think that it has failed due to the small amount of channels available (BBC1, ITV1, 4, and E4), though the quality of the TV reception may also be an issue. Consumers are unlikely to watch Mobile TV at home while sat still and would probably find it much more beneficial on long train or car journeys where reception may not reach an adequate standard for continuous viewing.

We also think that people the scope for consumers listening to music and radio on their mobile phone is much higher than watching TV. Your phone screen is usually small making viewing awkward and unless you are on a long journey or stationary it’s much easier just to listen to your music than hold your handset whilst you try and watch TV.

Other networks who release more stylish mobile TV handsets might be more successful but Vodafone and Virgin has so far nose dived on the mobile TV front, though other operators such as Three with their new X-Series TV add on may set themselves up for a fall unless they take heed of the quality of their TV reception and the choice of programmes and channels.

Article Source: http://www.onecompare.com/mobile-new...eysavingexpert

[Ben]

Virgin's Mobile TV partially failed because of that hunk of crap (excuse me, please) that they're selling with it on. It's ugly as hell.

The market most likely to consume Mobile TV just happens to be the one that likes small, stylish phones. The Razr taught us this group favours form over function, in fact it has taught us it for a couple of years even as other handset raced ahead on the technology front, but at the end of the day in todays world if it doesn't look good it doesn't cut it.

We're not in the days of Casio calculator watches anymore.

[miffed]

Well I like it !

When in coverage areas it seems to work rather nicely for me

....but then I have never been one to follow the trends re- small handsets

As you say Ben ,if Virgin mangaged to launch the TV thing in a more commercial looking handset , then we may have seen a different response

For those that can see past the TV part though - it made for a nice cheap windows mobile phone

[Hands0n]

Originally Posted by miffed

For those that can see past the TV part though - it made for a nice cheap windows mobile phone

99% the reason I went for it anyway, can't say no for the price It would have been nice if the TV bit had worked better though. Actually, it would have been nice if the TV bit had worked, period! The Radio is okay ... but then I got one of them in me car anyways........