Some valuable insights into the take-up of mobile TV in South Korea from TU Media, a subsidiary of SK Telecom (via ZDNetAsia).  According to Suh Young-kil, president and CEO of TU Media, the popularity of video shorts has been – quite literally – short-lived. The “killer application” is live sports and news, he told the audience at CommunicAsia. TU Media had thought younger users under the age of 30 would have been the most avid mobile TV fans. “But we found that 30 percent of our subscribers are above 40,” he said. “They enjoy 24-hour news and some sporting events.” TU Media counts over 580,000 subscribers to its offer, which consists of 12 video and 36 audio channels for a monthly fee of 13,000 won (US$13).

And TU Media had some other surprises to report. The average user tunes in to mobile TV for about 64 minutes per day – much longer than expected. Users just aren’t watching more; they demand more from their viewing experience. “Their QoS (quality-of-service) requirements are now the same as what they expect from mobile phone services--nationwide coverage and indoor reception,” Suh said. But user enthusiasm for the service doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges to future take-up. The obstacles: the limited number of mobile TV capable handsets. To this end TU, Suh said, is working with handset makers to address this issue.