Changing the channel on mobile video

Across the span of television history are series like “Twin Peaks,” “Freaks and Geeks” and the current “Arrested Development,” shows that earn impassioned cult followings but make little headway into the mass consumer consciousness. Now it appears the same fate may await mobile broadcasting — according to a recent Jupiter Research survey, 44% of respondents are looking forward to downloading mobile video content, but only 19% said they would pay for the privilege, citing inflated handset prices and spotty 3G availability for their lackluster response. Worse yet, only 4% of respondents said mobile viewing would be a high priority when they purchase their next handset. It's tough to pinpoint where the disinterest lies: On the one hand, most TV is garbage anyway, and on the other hand, thanks to TiVo, you can record the good stuff when you're away from home and watch it at your discretion. But the biggest roadblock facing mobile video remains the format itself. Most carriers and content developers argue that mobile TV will establish itself first and foremost as a means to kill downtime in airports or at bus stops, but mobile games and music downloads are jockeying for the same audience — and while consumers are already intimately familiar with the concepts of mobile music and gaming via devices of yore like Sony's Walkman or Nintendo's GameBoy, wireless video represents an alien experience that, with its tiny screens and limited content menu, runs in complete opposition to the bigger-is-better mentality that drives consumer demand for HDTV and satellite programming. Mobile video may turn out to be the greatest thing since sliced spectrum, but audiences are quick to make up their minds and slow to change them — and in a world where “Desperate Housewives” consistently tops the Nielsen ratings while “Freaks and Geeks” lives only on DVD, there's no accounting for taste, anyway.