Page 32 - Mobile World Daily - Day 2

ADVERTORIAL

Mobile World Congress in Barcelona has gone from being a footnote to a
highlight in Viacom’s annual calendar. That a mobile industry gathering has
become such a crucial business forum for a global entertainment company tells
a tale about the rapidly converging media and technology context we all find
ourselves operating in.

With a portfolio that includes young-skewing entertainment brands – such as Comedy Bob Bakish, President and CEO, Viacom International Media Networks
Central, MTV and Nickelodeon – Viacom sees the growing appetite amongst our target
audiences for consuming our music and entertainment content via mobile connected Another new OTT VOD service, called Noggin, featuring a wide selection of pre-school
devices, including both short-form and long-form video. content which is no longer airing on our Nickelodeon TV networks, was recently announced
in the U.S. and is due to be rolled out internationally this year.
An increasing percentage of online engagement with our brands is occurring via mobile
devices. In the UK, for example, in the second half of 2014, almost 45% of all video views on Our OTT mobile offering is not restricted to video-on-demand, but also encompasses
a re-launched and mobile-optimised mtv.co.uk were via mobile compared to just 3% in the music. In partnership with MusicQubed, Viacom is launching a mobile digital music service,
same period in 2013. The total number of mobile video views increased more than 2,000% MTV Trax, tailored for pre-pay customers and casual music fans who may be put off by the
year on year in 2014, numbering in the tens of millions. higher price tariffs and complexity of ‘all you can eat’ streaming services. We believe MTV
Trax is a new ‘play-as-you-go’ concept in premium digital music services – offering casual
This trend isn’t restricted to MTV’s mobile-addicted millennial audience. Pre-teens are music fans one-touch access via their smartphones to the hottest, hand-picked music from
less likely to own a smartphone than older friends and siblings, but a significant percentage their favourite pop stars with flexible and affordable price points. The service has a focused
of them are using tablets to view video online. And adults are getting in on the act too, with daily offering of tracks organised into playlists curated by MTV. MTV Trax is due to launch in
a quarter of Comedy Central’s online video views in the UK coming via mobile in 2014 New Zealand in partnership with a leading network operator and is also being launched as
compared to less than a tenth the year before. a direct-to-consumer subscription service in the UK on 3rd March.

Mobile network operators are tracking the same trends and coming to the same The mainstreaming of mobile media is an opportunity for all of us. For entertainment
conclusions about demand amongst their most valuable demographic groups for mobile companies, like Viacom, mobile extends the reach of our content and brands both
entertainment. With the rise of social media and messaging apps impacting revenues from geographically and demographically. For mobile network operators, access to premium
voice and SMS and with intense competition in every market, operators are becoming entertainment increases the range of products and services their subscribers buy from
distributors of premium entertainment content as a means to differentiate their offering to them and, ultimately, deepens the value of each customer.
new customers, build customer loyalty and to increase data usage and drive up ARPU. So,
for example, Vodafone offers a choice of entertainment offerings in the UK – such as Sky Bob Bakish will be speaking at a session about Content Evolution for the Multi Form
Sports Mobile TV or a Now TV pack containing live channel streams of MTV, Nickelodeon Factor Future on Tuesday March 3rd at 2p in Auditorium 5, Hall 4
and Comedy Central – as an incentive to sign up to its Red 4G plan.

While network operators lead the way, device manufacturers are also becoming
entertainment distributors, looking to pre-load applications for competitive differentiation.

Viacom’s mobile strategy is evolving to take advantage of this consumer demand and new
mobile distribution opportunities for its entertainment content. It would be premature for
Viacom to adopt a ‘mobile first’ strategy, given the enormous consumption of our content
on the silver screen and the flat-screen. That’s why linear pay TV will continue to be the
primary window for our premium content, giving our existing affiliate partners and
subscribers first access to our freshest and most popular entertainment. Viacom is working
with many of these partners to satisfy subscriber demand for mobile ‘TV Everywhere’
services giving access to content from all our brands anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Increasingly, however, we are also partnering with mobile network operators to launch
branded over-the-top (OTT) products, primarily targeting non-pay TV subscribers but also
existing pay TV subscribers who want additional, more flexible access to a selection of our
content. These services offer on-demand access to our content libraries but with some
privileged access to premium content as an incentive to subscribe. Our mobile partners are
not only able to license our brands but also access cross-promotional support from our
international network of TV channels and digital properties

One such service Viacom will be debuting at the Fira Gran Via is MTV Play, an OTT video-
on-demand (VOD) application offering access to 1,500 hours of MTV’s global entertainment
content, including premiere episodes of some of its biggest TV hits, such as the upcoming
season of Catfish, in advance of their transmission on linear pay TV. MTV Play is designed
for mobile viewing, although the content can be accessed on any connected device,
including leading gaming consoles and smart TVs, as well as being compatible with any
operating system. Proprietary technology developed by our platform partner, Vigour, allows
users to transfer content seamlessly from one connected device to another and without any
pause in viewing. Users can also use their smartphone as a remote control when viewing
on other devices. From launch on 5th March, the application will be available free to
subscribers to MTV Mobile tariffs from our network partners in Germany, Switzerland and
Romania. Viacom will also make it available as a direct-to-consumer (D2C) subscription
offering at a cost of €2.99 a month, and we are exploring pay TV deals that would include
authenticated access to MTV Play.

PAGE 32 Tuesday 3rd March MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS DAILY 2015 | www.mobileworldcongress.com