FLO TV Takes Steps To Measure Mobile TV Habits

A good step forward towards Mobile TV getting advertising traction. As mobile TV adoption has continued to rise, the demand for reliable and verifiable viewership data has grown throughout the entertainment, media and advertising industries.

Tricia Duryee, mocoNews.net
Aug 20, 2009

Qualcomm’s FLO TV has upped the ante for getting viewership results for its mobile broadcast TV service for the benefit of advertisers.

FLO TV, which is resold by AT&T and Verizon Wireless, said today that it has partnered with Portland, Ore.-based Rentrak, a media measurement and research company that will compile daily figures for the TV service. Previously, FLO said it was using an internal, time-intensive process. Now, with Rentrak, FLO will be able to report second-by-second usage stats by the next day—much like networks do today.

The two companies plan to have the partnership up and running later this year, but also provided a handful of stats to accompany today’s release: the average viewer spends 30 minutes watching FLO TV; prime time is unusually early between 1 and 2 p.m.; and the Michael Jackson Memorial on July 7 was the most-viewed event in FLO TV history. The average viewer stayed tuned for 49 minutes.


Press Release

FLO TV and Rentrak Launch the First Comprehensive Audience Measurement and Reporting System for Multicast Mobile TV in the U.S.

Second-by-second Viewership Data Enables the Sale of Advertising Time on the FLO TV Service

SAN DIEGO & PORTLAND, Ore. - August 20, 2009 - FLO TV Incorporated, provider of the award-winning FLO TV™ live mobile TV service and a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), and Rentrak Corporation (Nasdaq: RENT), a multi-screen media measurement and research company serving the entertainment industry, have aligned to launch the mobile television industry's first comprehensive viewership and advertising impression reporting using Rentrak's TV Essentials™ media measurement system. Through their collaboration, FLO TV and Rentrak will deliver reporting that will serve as the currency for advertising sales on FLO TV and provide deeper insights into FLO TV audience viewing patterns while not divulging any individual subscriber's personal information.

As mobile TV adoption has continued to rise, the demand for reliable and verifiable viewership data has grown throughout the entertainment, media and advertising industries. Through Rentrak's TV Essentials reporting system, FLO TV will provide ongoing reports to content providers and advertisers to assist them in their programming and media buying decisions for this emerging platform.

“This is a significant milestone for FLO TV and also for the mobile multicast TV category,” said Jonathan Barzilay, senior vice president of programming and advertising, FLO TV. “Mobile TV is quickly becoming a vital platform for consumers. With our new impression reporting from Rentrak, FLO TV can provide relevant viewership information to advertisers and content partners swiftly and reliably.”

“The mobile space is particularly opportunistic as a result of devices being connected to a unique viewer, enabling a highly targetable new advertising marketplace," said Ken Papagan, president and chief strategy officer, Rentrak. “We are very excited about our collaboration with FLO TV because it leverages the considerable development Rentrak has put into the TV Essentials system and expands the value of our service for conventional linear television to include the mobile platform.”

FLO TV and Rentrak are currently in the integration phase and are planning to share impression data with their programming partners later this year.

The FLO TV service is available through the top two U.S. wireless carriers, including AT&T as AT&T Mobile TV. To learn more about FLO TV, please visit www.flotv.com.