Dear Industry Executive

Mobile gives Participation TV a much needed life line

Participation TV promised to be such a great revenue generator for both the telecoms industry and the TV broadcasters and programme makers. Now it lies in tatters: consumer confidence is at an all time low and many call TV services — from really bad quizzes right the way up to prime time chat shows and talent contests — have pulled the plug on this new revenue stream. A lot can happen in a week.

But is it all bad news? Well, no — not for mobile at least. While the fixed line premium rate service (PRS) entry method to these P-TV offerings are being subjected to close audits, media scrutiny and the possibility of a police investigation for fraud, mobile comes out relatively unscathed.

Because mobile is so closely guarded by mobile network operators it is relatively in the clear. Mobile also offers a very reliable electronic paper trail to the customer and, perhaps more importantly, offers a channel back to the consumer — so if it all goes wrong, you enter after the lines are closed etc — as soon as the discrepancy is detected, the service provider can tell the consumer and refund them or give them a free go.

So, could it be that, while call TV and participation TV services stand in the dock accused of all manner of nefarious activities — which are largely cock ups, rather than connivance — mobile could well be the channel that gives P-TV a much needed life line at this difficult time…. Then again, there is always the kitemark.

Yours

Paul Skeldon

paul.skeldon@contentfutures.com

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P-TV service providers ‘will have to get quality kitemark’

Following a fortnight of salacious headlines suggesting all manner of underhand goings on around the UK’s premium rate fixed line and mobile participation TV (P-TV), premium rate regulator ICSTIS has introduced emergency plans to try and stem the problem and to restore public confidence. In the meantime, leading UK broadcaster ITV has called in Deloitte to audit all its call TV services and pledges not to put them back on air until they have been given the all clear.

ICSTIS is moving to keep P-TV as a viable business, but recognizes the need to act. It is suggesting that all PRS service providers involved in P-TV have to have to be licenced by ICSTIS. Such a licensing system, says the regulator, will define where responsibility for compliance with the ICSTIS Code of Practice lies so that viewers can have absolute confidence in services. This arrangement would depend on and be underpinned by all broadcasters fulfilling their duty to ensure that all programmes comply with the ICSTIS Code of Practice, and taking action to demonstrate this.

As part of establishing a licensing regime, ICSTIS will explore with the industry the benefit of introducing a trust mark or quality standard to build long-term public trust in services.

PRS and mobile companies, along with broadcasters and TV production houses, have broadly welcomed the suggestion, though industry bodies such as the NOC are still warning that this may be a stop-gap measure and that harder regulation may be the ultimate outcome. Of particular concern is a European Court of Justice case against an Austrian broadcaster, which could see EU law force regulators to more harshly regulate the call TV market.

There is also suggestion within the TV industry that as part of its audits at ITV and Channel 5, Deloitte may recommend that broadcasters get together to self regulate what they do, much as the UK’s mobile network operators have done.

Read More: http://www.icstis.org.uk/pdfs_news/PressRelease_prsTVmeasures.pdf

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TV reverse auction specialist signs deal for rapid mobile billing as TV interaction moves to mobile

As the furore over gaming TV shows reaches a frenzy, reverse auction and lottery specialist Million-2-1, which supplies innovative games to UTV Group, ITV, radio group GCap and EMAP has signed an exclusive two year deal with Mobile Interactive Group (MIG) for MIG’s high speed SMS and WAP billing and Payforit services across all its consumer products and services.

MIG’s world record-breaking, 2000 messages per second SMS gateway is being used to power Million-2-1’s complete mobile games portfolio which features pioneering formats such as HowLo?, the reverse auction where the lowest unique bid is the winner and The Manchester Lottery, the UK's first regional SMS lottery.

This deal will see the companies working much more closely on a number of strategic initiatives including the launch of a new WAP based interactive direct to consumer gaming format that uses Million 2-1’s reverse auction and treasure hunt gaming mechanics, HowLo? and HowHot?

Chris Sheffield, CEO, Million 2-1 says that: “We have invested a lot of time and effort in to ensuring that our games are fine-tuned to be compliant with the regulatory framework administered by the Gambling Commission.  More than this, we have firmly set out our stall as a responsible gambling provider.  With new legislation just around the corner it is crucial that mobile service providers that wish to offer any kind of gaming or gambling service understand the new regulatory environment, and of course, MIG is leading the pack.  I am sure our previous good relations will continue to prosper.”

Read More: http://www.migcan.com/news.html

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Opera Telecom relaunches to target the converged interactive media services

Opera Interactive Technology Group (OITG) launched last week to help media companies to drive new revenues through interactive services, using the latest Voice, Mobile and IP technologies. Formerly trading as Opera Telecom, OITG consists of three new divisions, Opera Interactive – a consultancy dedicated to all forms of media, print and television; Opera Radio – a brand new radio venture; and Opera Technology Services, which will handle all of the infrastructure capabilities within the OITG group. 

Gary Corbett, founder of Opera Telecom, becomes Chairman of OITG. Shane Leahy, formerly Managing Director of Opera Telecom Ireland, has been appointed CEO of OITG.

Gary Corbett, Chairman of OITG, says, “The newly formed Opera Interactive Technology Group now provides us with three specialist divisions which provide clients with the very best service across all forms of media and communication. We will now be able to work more closely with clients, helping to answer their business needs, whilst developing and implementing creative campaigns that combine the expertise of our people, our position in the market and the reliability of our infrastructure, locally, nationally and internationally.”

Shane Leahy, Chief Executive Officer of OITG, says, “With traditional TV and radio advertising revenues continuing to fall, media owners are desperately looking for alternative revenue generators. New interactive services provide the answer by helping to plug the advertising gap. However, media companies need the ability to execute quickly, by combining self-serve customer elements with fresh campaign ideas, cross-fertilised from international markets.”

Read More: http://www.oitg.com/index.cfm?PageID=111

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France bans mobile citizen journalism as it tackles happy slapping

The French Constitutional Council has signed off a law that makes it illegal for anyone other than a professional journalist to film acts of violence in attempt to stem the rising tide of Happy Slapping incidents. The law, however, inadvertently outs the kybosh on the nascent craze for citizen journalism.

The law could lead to the imprisonment of eyewitnesses who film acts of police violence, or operators of Web sites publishing the images, one French civil liberties group warned.

The government has also proposed a certification system for Web sites, blog hosters, mobile-phone operators and Internet service providers, identifying them as government-approved sources of information if they adhere to certain rules. The journalists’ organization Reporters Without Borders, which campaigns for a free press, has warned that such a system could lead to excessive self censorship as organizations worried about losing their certification suppress certain stories.

The council chose an unfortunate anniversary to publish its decision approving the law, which came exactly 16 years after Los Angeles police officers beating Rodney King were filmed by amateur videographer George Holliday on the night of March 3, 1991. The officers’ acquittal at the end on April 29, 1992 sparked riots in Los Angeles.

If Holliday were to film a similar scene of violence in France today, he could end up in prison as a result of the new law, said Pascal Cohet, a spokesman for French online civil liberties group Odebi. And anyone publishing such images could face up to five years in prison.

Read More: http://news.yahoo.com/s/macworld/20070306/tc_macworld/franceban20070306

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PwC mobilises recruitment with mobile internet launch

Mobile marketing agency Incentivated has been appointed by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP to launch a mobile internet site which will handle part of its student recruitment drive. This marks the first time a top four professional services firm has included mobile marketing as part of its overall marketing strategy.

By texting PWCEVENTS to 87222, a 'WAP push' message is sent which opens a mobile internet site which comprises several hundred pages. Created using Incentivated's online platform 'iris', the mobile internet site allows students to locate PwC recruitment events at universities across the UK. An additional text-to-win competition offers students the change to win a Mazda MX5 by texting MAZDA to 87222. Both mobile campaigns will be promoted on the firm's website and by leaflets and events on and off campuses.

PwC was recently named the UK's Top Graduate Employer by the Times for the third year in a row and has a long history of providing graduates and undergraduates with internship and employment opportunities.

By integrating mobile into its recruitment strategy, PwC will continue its standing as an innovative industry leader by offering today's university students with an additional and immediate way to access recruitment information.

Jonathan Bass, MD at Incentivated, said: "We were particularly pleased when PwC became a client - there are no limits to the range of business sectors which can harness the strengths of the mobile channel. PwC's recruiting team has recognised the relevance of this medium to their target audience and designed a campaign with tech-savvy undergrads in mind.

Read More: http://www.incentivated.com/?p=newsPressRelease

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The simple way to build mobile websites

WAP site specialist Wapple has launched Wapple Canvas, a new generation of web-based site builder tools so that anyone can take advantage of the mobile internet to create and publish professional mobile WAP sites.

Using simple point and click design and drag and drop for page layout and content, Wapple Canvas makes it possible to get a mobile site up and running in hours, which can be accessed from virtually any device on any network and from any country. Wapple also makes it easy to add extended e-commerce functions, mobile advertising, interactive elements such as polls and user feedback, as well as rich media content including games, videos and music.

The Wapple Delivery Engine automatically customises and renders the mobile internet pages to individual browser-based mobile devices including close to 5000 different mobile handsets as well as PDAs and some hand-held games consoles such as the Sony PSP. It delivers rich WML, HTML, XHTML, CHTML content to 3G, iMode, GPRS, GSM networks and Wireless Lan.

Wapple Canvas is a toolkit that is accessible from anywhere in the world through a PC web-browser. New features include accelerated workflow and improved content and page management, extended content format support, along with even more ways to layout a mobile page and build in search facilities. New e-commerce functions such as discounting and gifting have been added as well as improved live stats for tracing user activity and trends to provide personalised content and loyalty schemes, for example.

Read More: http://wapple.net/wapple-news.htm

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