IS MOBILE TV A SMALL TV?

Catherine Lejealle (1)

1 LTCI - Laboratoire Traitement et Communication de l'Information

Whereas most of the studies and papers present mobile television as a personal mobile TV with isolated niche usage, mostly in mobile situations, our findings show that half of the usage is non-mobile and about 20% is shared with a family member, a friend or a colleague. Moreover, it is incorporated in routine social activities such as work and family life. Indeed, the content viewed depends on the other activities and other content accessed previously, read or seen on home TV, radio, MP3 devices or newspapers. On his way to work, the user will watch the news if he hasn't already done so, otherwise he will select a musical mobile TV channel. We found that working class participants view different content on mobile TV and on their home TV, as they focus on music, sport and news on mobile TV, a content which can easily fragmented to suit short or long viewing duration. Thus mobile TV is complementary to other devices and media. Finally, each usage is a new challenge to the user's capabilities and competences, redefining his representation and sometimes preferring telephony, TV, Windows or surfing on the Web.

Mots clés: Mobile TV; uses; sociability; digital television; viewing practices

Domaines: Sociologie

Catherine Lejealle. IS MOBILE TV A SMALL TV?. Digital Television revisited : Linking users, markets and policies, May 2008, Budapest, Hungary. ISBn 978-963-06-4916-2, p. 57 - 67. ⟨hal-00348679⟩