Versaly Entertainment

Since March 2005, Versaly’s mobile video business unit, Vmbc.tv, has been programming mobile video-on-demand channels…both on carrier decks and “off-deck” portals.

What is a carrier deck and what is an “off-deck” portal deck. All it means is where the top level link (menu item) to the channel resides. Or better yet…how easy it is to find the channel on your mobile phone. Verizon’s Vcast and Sprint’s Media Player (or whatever they are calling it now) have somewhere around 2-3 million paying subscribers. MyWaves and other “off-deck” portals claim upwards of 10 million free subscribers (without providing frequent visitors). With this comparison, how easy it is to find and how many people are browsing the categories and/or channels are pretty equal in audience. Is there a significant value difference? I don’t think so.

Once a channel is “discovered” by a consumer…the consumer can revisit that location over and over again. Is there a different “value” to being on a carrier deck verse off-deck portal? Well, a view is a view is a view. If Versaly can generate 1 million views with an off-deck portal and 1 million views on a carrier deck, then they should be considered equal value.

However, large media companies still feel carrier decks offer more value…and only include carrier deck programming in their mobile video strategy. I agree carriers do spend a lot more in marketing…with loads of TV commercials, but has that provided an ROI to the carriers? With only 2-3 million paying subscribers, it doesn’t seem so.

Consumers want mobile video. When they cannot find any good channels (synonymous to “nothings on TV!”), the consumer will venture out and find off-deck portals. Q: Is one deck better than another? A: That is up to the individual Consumer.