MobiTV Fghts for Higher Ratings

MSNBC picks up an San Francisco Business Times article about MobiTV and the growth the company is experiencing. The company has recently scored a number of distribution deals with wireless carriers and has over a half a million subscribers.

One key issue is whether consumers will fork over $10 amonth to watch the service on their tiny handset screens. Julie Ask at Jupiter Research said, "Ten dollars is a lot of money," especially since subscribers typically pay $45 a month for wireless service.

Ask was more impressed with MobiTV customer uptake. "I think 500,000 is astounding," she said. Ask believed MobiTV's service had advantages over Verizon's vCast, such as live TV and availability via "many more handsets than Verizon, which is only offered on three or four."

"And with faster networks in place and better handsets out there, in the last four to six months, the picture looks really great," she added.