By Bill Cherry
At the first quarter of 2006 there were 3.3 million mobile video users, and by the first quarter of 2007 the number of users jumped to 8.4 million according to a recent study by Telephia Inc.
 In addition, the study showed that half of the current users are just fine with advertising messages on their video content.
There’s no question that mobile video is the medium of the future, and many of the large media companies like ESPN, CBS, and MTV are planning on it. They have begun to create program content specifically for the cell phone. ABC has already started broadcasting full hour episodes of shows like “Lost� and “Grey’s Anatomy.�
The launch of Apple’s iPhone will also likely drive increasing consumer demand for mobile video. The trend will possibly be similar to the evolution of DVD. While industry experts predicted DVD would overtake VHS over a number of years, everyone was surprised at the incredibly rapid growth of DVD which was much quicker than expected.
Low screen resolution and a limited quantity of programming content may be issues right now, but those issues will work themselves out fairly quickly. Marketers should start now planning mobile video strategies if they don’t want to be left in the dust. With the incredible growth explosion of mobile video, it will hit critical mass fairly quickly.
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