The channel started offering mobile services in 1999 with an SMS chat service. Today, the channel and its digital/cable sister channels, MTV3+ and Subtv, broadcast between six and seven hours per day of premium SMS-based mobile TV shows, such as chat, dating and gaming.
Jaron Millner, head of content services for MTV Interactive, says there is a strong economic basis for the company to look at mobile revenues. "The media market is facing a saturation phase when it comes to TV advertising," Millner says. "In the future, market growth is expected to be only about 2 to 5 percent annually for this. Also, we see digital TV bringing more channels and more competition for the revenue from commercials."
The price for a game SMS is EUR 0.95 and for a chat SMS EUR 0.85. For an extra EUR 0.70, the caller can have his or her message read by an animated character. MTV3 does not disclose traffic figures, but the services bring income of EUR 10 million per year.
The game shows are broadcast for three hours in the middle of the day, while the very popular chat and dating shows run late at night. All shows are led by a host and the chat entries are screened before they are published.
One of the most popular games challenges users to put a football in a goal behind the host, who is also the goalkeeper. The user shoots by sending coordinates of the target grid by SMS to a premium number. Other offerings include ice-hockey and volleyball versions of the format and a water-balloon game.
Users register a nickname, which is shown during the game, and a score list is presented at the end. Winners are also called and interviewed by the host. "This is a way people can get themselves on television and for some that can be a reason for participation," Millner says.
The games are designed to be easy to enter. "That lets people play the game by sending only one SMS, but there are a number of high-usage players who return every time their favorite game is on," he says.
Surveys show that young people in big city areas and men form the biggest groups of active users. While most just watch the shows, the proportion of active participants as at least 12 percent – a good figure, Millner says. "TV companies traditionally want to attract a good number of viewers, but for these kinds of services we need people to take an active part and the mechanisms for this are more advanced than you might think," he says. "For us, it is a part of our long-term strategy to turn viewers into consumers."
