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  • NBC CEO: Mobile content 'not that important'

    NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker challenged mobile operators to improve the economics of the mobile content industry by offering entertainment companies a larger percentage of revenues. Speaking Friday alongside Sony CEO Howard Stringer, FCC chairman Kevin Martin and Google CEO Eric Schmidt at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zucker said that carriers award just "10 percent of the economics to the content companies," which in turn provides little incentive for NBC Universal to devote much of its attention to the mobile platform. "It's actually not that important," Zucker said. "We're obviously playing in this world, but playing in a small way." According to Zucker, consumer behaviors will force changes in the operator/content provider relationship. "The consumer will actually demand the content, and they'll demand a better experience. And it will force both of us to figure out the economics around who gets how much." Zucker added that NBC will nevertheless broadcast some 2,200 hours of live mobile coverage of the upcoming Summer Olympics, leading Fortune magazine senior editor David Kirkpatrick, moderator of the panel, to quip "That's pretty amazing from a company that doesn't consider wireless very important in the near term." For more on Zucker's remarks: - read this Hollywood Reporter article Related articles: SinglePoint to power NBC Universal 's mobile efforts NBC Universal ankles Apple for Amazon NBC , MobiTV ink on-demand deal Alltel inks deal with NBC Universal
  • Mobile content and discontent ahead for 2008

    It's difficult to envision the mobile content sector experiencing another year as radically transformative as 2007, but 2008 promises to re -redefine the balance of power. The new year continues where the previous one left off, with operators, software giants, Internet kingpins and device makers all waging battle to win control over platforms and business models alike. Mobile handsets are more potent and tricked out than ever before, but conventional multimedia linchpins like music, video and gaming are still stagnant, with both carriers and content providers pinning their hopes on ad-subsidized programming to drive adoption. In the meantime, consumers are staking out a mobile experience defined not by passive entertainment but by proactive engagement--messaging and social networking continue to capture the imagination of subscribers regardless of age, while mobility tools like search, shopping and banking exemplify the possibilities of true wireless living. Read on for what's hot and what's not in mobile content in 2008--fasten your seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy ride. - Jason
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