Times Now on Mobile

Category: Reliance | No Comments | Posted on January 26, 2006

Times Now, a 24-hour news channel from Times Group & Reuters Service, will put video news on Reliance Infocomm’s R World.

Subscribers will be required to pay 3 rupees per day to access Times Now content, or they may opt for a 25 rupees per-month subscription. Video clips will be downloadable at 7-10 rupees per download. Users with streaming-capable handsets will be able to view streaming content in real-time at a price of 15 rupees per session.

“Times Now’s association with Reliance India Mobile has created a unique solution for the urbanite,” he said. “The urbanite continues to have access to news and information while on the move, enabling mobile users to stay updated around the clock.”

Reliance has claimed high usage of its exisitng news and movie-based video clips. The video quality is not great but it might be having a audience of people without access to other entertainment media ie. semi-urban or rural markets. But contrary to that assumption, the quote above puts the urbanite as its target segment. I’m not sure about the value proposition of commodity news made available on pay-per-use to the urban user.

Chetan Sharma, who recently authored a report on the Indian wireless market for DataComm Research has similar views.

The Indian marketplace is heavily saturated with mobile phones and is known for readily adopting new technology. At the same time, it remains a cost-conscious market…

Even if the content is compelling, pricing is more important to cell phone customers, Sharma told TechNewsWorld. For Times Now, he said, “market acceptance may lag.”

Users have shown a willingness to pay for premium content in South Korea and Japan, however, the sale of content for mobile phones will be more difficult in India, Sharma explained, especially since most mobile video efforts thus far have been attempts to win market share and promote brands, rather than to bring in revenue.

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