Despite my own ambivalence towards it, Mobile TV on a cellphone is picking up pace.  In the US, Qualcomm’s MediaFLO has been picked up by several of the major carriers, in Europe various schemes are active and of course in Asia they’ve been playing with both video downloads and over-the-air broadcasts for a long time now.  Analysts ABI Research are predicting that, worldwide, total subscribers to Mobile TV services will grow to 462 million over the next five years, predominantly through the greater prevalence of 3G networks and the introduction of flat-rate packages.

Photo credit: Kurt Rogers

“Mobile operators’ sustained investment in video delivery will continue to be rewarded by subscribers’ growing adoption rates, particularly as they upgrade to new video-capable handsets.  Consumers are being increasingly enticed by better experiences through more powerful and larger screens as well as by a widening array of subscription options” Mike Wolf, research director, ABI Research

While it lacks the high-speed connection many media services demand, the iPhone has been credited with demonstrating how successful streaming video can be on a mobile device with their YouTube application, which has spawned a generic YouTube portal suitable for just about any 3G handset.

ABI is predicting Asia-Pacific will continue to lead the drive, with Europe following and the US experiencing a “strong uptake” as more handsets become Mobile TV friendly.

Have you watched TV on your cellphone?  Do you make regular use of MediaFLO or another TV download service?  Let us know your thoughts in the comments.