the business, it is expensive because,
frankly, there isn’t a mass market of
mobile video content… If we did release
profit figures at this stage, they
wouldn’t be eye-wateringly large.”
Digital Media’s mobile content is
available on demand at the moment.
Orange subscribers, for example, can
currently download clips for 75p (including
data charge). At this stage, it is
targeted primarily at a male audience.
“Video for us is pretty much limited to
sketch comedy stuff. It is largely because
that’s what the carriers want, it’s
largely because of the sort of people
who are buying mobile video, namely
men,” says Mercier.
Each carrier has a different approach
to retail. The first deal Digital
Media did, with Orange, was done
before Mercier joined BBC Worldwide.
The carrier was very prescriptive
about the types of content it
wanted, the BBC simply cleared
the rights, but Worldwide’s role in
content is developing, says Mercier.
“Now I’m in a position where I’ve
got an 80 page document, with 40
content brands spanning a range
of different genres, where we can
go and put together a package for
an operator. You’ll see a time when
these [all you can eat data plans] are
available where we vend that sort of
stuff directly,” he says.
The revenue share is another closely
guarded secret: “It’s reasonable. Am
I happy? Well, share is not an issue,
volume is the issue,” says Mercier.
“For us it is all about making sure
the category continues to grow and
that the carriers continue marketing
video capable handsets … Is 75p and
my share of that a large hurdle to
overcome? No, I don’t think so. It’s
really about making 3G and video
capable devices mass market, because
that’s still not the case here in the
UK,” he says.
The BBC has such a strong brand
it’s difficult to see how the firm will
fail to make money from mobile
Mobile Communications International | First for news, best for business
career history
» 1990 Studied politics, history & economics at McGill
University, Montreal, Canada.
» 1993 Came to the UK from Toronto and worked in pay TV
from 1994-2002.Videotron; Cable & Wireless; ITV Digital
» 2002 Joined T-Mobile International responsible for pan
European movie, sports & games content licensing
» 2005 Joined MobiTV ran the European sales & business
development office
» 2007 Joined BBC Worldwide as head of Mobile
content. But it is a challenging environment—traditional
TV viewing
is extremely competitive, there are
more channels now than ever before,
and while the pool of viewers is
larger, the much wider choice has
diluted individual shows’ viewing
figures. In addition, the web and,
to a certain degree, video games
are playing a role in cannibalising
viewing figures.
BBC licensed games, rather than
clips of archive material, have the
best returns. Games may have a higher
price point, but they’re developed
specifically with the mobile user in
mind and they have greater longevity
for the user. Downloading a game is
an entertainment investment. After all,
there really are only so many times a
viewer will watch a downloaded clip
of even their favourite sitcom. So it
should not be that surprising, then,
that rather than relatively inexpensive
repurposed TV content generating the
greatest profits, it is more costly made
for mobile games.
“You could make that argument,
but you could also say that there
is more competition too. If you’re
sitting at a bus stop and you want
to be entertained for five minutes
watching a video, there are dozens
MCI INTERVIEW
of places you can go and dozens of
experiences you can have,” points
out Mercier.
The BBC’s big selling mobile game,
mentioned earlier, is an adaptation of
quiz show the Weakest Link. “I think
people understand that you’re not
going to get the same experience as
a PS3 or Xbox,” says Mercier. “One
of the reasons the Weakest Link
has done so well for us, is that it
does exactly what it says on the
tin, you’re not looking for a 3D first
person shooter with groundbreaking
graphics when you buy the Weakest
Link. You’re looking for a challenging
quiz experience, you’re looking
for a potential humiliation when
you don’t get things right and you’re
looking for the chance to vote people
off, and that’s exactly what you get
in the game. This is one of the great
things we at the BBC have. We have
the opportunity to bring strong mass
market brands into gaming.”
The BBC has got huge growth
potential and there is a whole lot
to play for, although at the moment
the vast majority of people have
no idea TV clips and games can be
downloaded using a phone. Indeed,
it’s debatable that they really care.
“We have a fantastic archive and
fantastic opportunity to grow, so
we’ve got to take that and make a
business out of it. It’s different from
coming from scratch and saying
‘yeah, we’re an incubator funded
web 2.0 play’.
“I believe the mobile device is
revolutionary and is an amazing
opportunity for content providers.
Is it going to be paid for video clips
that make me and the BBC rich?
Probably not. But I think we’ll do
some interesting things in that area.
We’ve got games, games are cool, they
make us lots of money, they’re a nice
way to get people to interact with
our brand. But mobile TV is an area
that for us is completely untapped,”
says Mercier. �
21
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.