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Verizon: MNF a ‘Big Draw’ for NFL Mobile App

November 7, 2011 by

The ability to watch Monday Night Football on your phone — like tonight’s game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Chicago Bears — has drawn a lot of new fans to Verizon Wireless’s NFL Mobile app, according to a company executive in charge of the service.

“The NFL Mobile app is very popular, and we continue to see growth [in user numbers],” said Mitch Dornich, Verizon Wireless marketing director for entertainment and sponsorships, in a phone interview. Though Dornich would not disclose updated subscriber numbers, last year Verizon reportedly had at least 4.5 million of its wireless customers using the NFL Mobile app — a number that has almost certainly grown thanks to the addition of live Monday Night Football games to the app’s premium-service tier this season.

“Last year, we had Thursday night games, Sunday night games, the NFL Network shows and the RedZone,” said Dornich. “This year we added Monday Night Football and it’s been a big lift. RedZone as a companion device during other broadcasts and Monday Night Football seem to be our biggest draws.”

Audio Broadcasts Also Popular

Though Verizon’s promotions of the NFL Mobile app center around live video and the company’s new, fast 4G LTE network, it is good old audio broadcasts that account for another big chunk of NFL Mobile use.

“Audio consumption is very high, probably because it’s the perfect companion if you’re doing something like driving, where you can’t watch the screen,” Dornich said. With both home and away audio broadcast choices NFL Mobile can satisfy fans of either side of any NFL contest, and couples the live audio with instantly updated text play-by-play.

According to Dornich, many Verizon wireless customers may start out with the basic free version of the NFL Mobile app, which supports features like the audio broadcasts and play-by-play, and then upgrade to the premium version after getting a taste of the video choices available. Verizon added some video-on-demand features, like in-game highlights, to the basic package this season and Dornich guessed the appetizer has enticed many fans to upgrade for the full meal deal.

For Verizon customers with 3G phones that support video (like the iPhone 4 or the iPhone 4s) the premium NFL Mobile package requires a $10 per month “Verizon Video” fee in addition to any other data plan.

“This year we put the VOD into the basic package so people could see the value,” Dornich said. Verizon is also waiving the $10 monthly fee for the rest of the 2011-12 season for customers who purchase 4G LTE phones. In and of itself, the NFL Mobile app is a bit of a promotional tool for the 4G LTE network, Dornich said.

“It’s really good for us, because [the NFL Mobile app] helps us differentiate our network from the competition,” Dornich said. “It shows customers what the network is capable of.”

Technical Challenges: Getting Good Video to Handsets

One of the biggest challenges for Verizon is optimizing the video streams to the many different handsets that are supported, which include Android smartphones as well as a long list of BlackBerry devices. “It’s not just about delivering the highest bit rate, since you may deliver something that a handset processor could choke on,” Dornich said. “The challenge for us is how to optimize the stream, so it’s right-sized for a particular handset.”

Though the NFL Mobile app is not yet supported on what is fast becoming the couch potato’s favorite companion device — the Apple iPad and its tablet imitators — Dornich said to “stay tuned” for news about iPad and NFL Mobile.

Verizon also takes care to alert potential NFL Mobile heavy users that watching a lot of video on your phone may be hazardous to the health of your monthly data plan. “We are always pretty clear up front that high usage [of NFL Mobile video] may impact your data plan,” Dornich said. One way fans can keep data consumption under control is to seek out Wi-Fi hotspots when they know they are going to watch a lot of video, Dornich said.

Verizon Wireless, which also has mobile apps for fans of the National Hockey League and IndyCar auto racing, said it is happy with the results of its $720 million deal with the NFL, which gives Verizon exclusive rights to cellphone viewing (though fans with other paid packages, like DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket or the Slingbox can also watch their services via a mobile connection).

“We’re very happy with the agreement,” Dornich said. “Our expectations have been validated.”

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Apps, iPad, iPhone, NFL, Sling Media, Verizon Wireless Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Monday’s Tech Tidbits-AT&T loves Wi-Fi!

October 24, 2011 by

Looking for a Wi-Fi hotspot? Well according to AT&T the number has been growing by leaps and bounds as users made 301.9 million AT&T Wi-Fi connections in the third quarter. The biggest growth areas? Stadiums and hospitality facilities.

Motorola Mobility seeks to reestablish Razr with the new Droid Razr, an LTE Android smartphone expected to be released next month. Can the company regain its pre-iPhone glory?

I feel old this morning. Apple’s iPod turned 10 years old last Sunday.

Google delivered Ice Cream Sandwich last week replete with a host of features-the first product with the new OS is Samsung’s Galaxy Nexus. I wonder how developers like it compared to the rival iOS or earlier Android versions?

Looks like Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 7 Plus tablet is headed to the US. Expect it to cost around $400 for the 16GB version and be available Nov 13th from Best Buy and Amazon, according to Gizmodo.

Apple’s iPad market share has peaked. Apple’s iPad market share is growing. Who do you believe? Speaking of bad iPad news stories are emerging that you can partially hack an iPad2 with a simple magnet.

Microsoft says that it will target the mid-market smartphone segment with future releases of its Windows-based phones. Rumor is that a platform code-named “Tango” is in the works, following up on its current “Mango” release.

Continued bad news for BlackBerry– a study by Enterprise Management Associates shows that 30% of RIM users in enterprises with 10,000 employees or more plans to switch to a different platform.

Filed Under: 4G LTE, Android, Apps, AT&T, BlackBerry, iPad, iPhone, Samsung, Tablets, Wi-Fi Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

AT&T Helps Stanford University Connect with Fans

June 10, 2011 by

Ever go to a sporting event where your phone indicates great reception but when you try to perform anything more complex than sending a text it seems as if there is no coverage? Let me rephrase that – Why is there never decent Internet access at sporting events?

The reason — major sporting events, as well as concerts and other large gatherings, now tend to overwhelm the cell sites located around the venues leading to frustrated fans wondering what their carrier is going to do about it. Now AT&T appears to be stepping to the plate with a solution.

The company has teamed with Stanford University Athletics in a 5-year deal that will bring a variety of AT&T wireless services to nine Stanford athletic venues, one of the first deals of its kind between the carrier and collegiate athletics. It is just the latest in Ma Bell’s recent effort to strike additional relationships with not only colleges but also professional sports franchises and venues, including deals already announced at places like its namesake AT&T Park in San Francisco and at Dallas Stadium.
The Stanford program comes out of AT&T’s Advanced Mobility Solutions Group and is part of the company’s drive to capitalize on the massive amount of usage and data that now flow from major sporting events, via text messages, photo uploads and other communications. The deal is designed mainly to increase the performance of smartphones and other advanced devices by allowing them to connect to the faster Wi-Fi links instead of competing for the limited cellular bandidth.

At its most basic it seems that the company realizes that fans and users are increasingly frustrated with the poor level of service that is available at most venues. With expanded Wi-Fi access fans should be able to perform many functions that are taken for granted elsewhere but often are impossible at stadiums, including checking scores, accessing video and watching instant replay as well as posting to YouTube, Facebook and other social media.

For AT&T users there is the bonus of being able to automatically use AT&T’s Wi-Fi, without the bother of going through any sort of setup or log-in through an auto-authentication process. Wi-Fi will be available to non-AT&T users as well. AT&T has also promised a suite of customized mobile apps including Live In-Stadium instant replay, interactive games and stadium guide, team information and news including real-time game and player stats and video. The Wi-Fi and other features will now be available for football games at Stanford Stadium, basketball and other indoor sports at Maples Pavilion, at the Avery Aquatics Center and other venues on campus.

Hopefully AT&T will aggressively pursue this effort as fans are increasingly seeking an interactive experience, one that they can share with friends and sadly this is increasingly impossible to do as networks are overwhelmed by user demands. I expect that rival carriers will quickly adopt a similar approach and seek their own stadium and school deals to help their customers and ward off AT&T’s efforts to expand its presence.

Filed Under: AT&T, Live sports via mobile, Wi-Fi Video Streaming Tagged With: , , , ,
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