Mobile News 2.0

(photos courtesy atelier.net and vipinfo.hu)

Mobile news started with media companies publishing mobile compatible sites on WAP. The brief was to help users browse news on their then small mobile screens in a compact view. It generated initial curiosity but did not become very popular. 

Soon came Blackberry and iPhone and other smartphone OSs and the “Mobile App Era” dawned. News publishers started pushing their print, TV and online news content to mobile/tablet devices with little or no repurposing. The content was usually streamed as RSS feed for display in an app. The publisher’s intent, by and large, was to make the news available through yet another media. Through these apps, publishers wanted to create a presence, hoped to get a foothold and capture the viewer’s attention on the move.

Early news apps created some curiosity. Viewers attempted to pay attention; attempted to get hooked on to good apps; some of them found it useful since it kept them informed while on the move; but not many viewers really got excited. This was the period when people were getting used to smartphones and tablets and just about starting to use their devices beyond making calls, share messages and emails and do some quick internet browsing. 

Smart devices today are being used to occasionally get news snippets, updates on important events, breaking news, sports scores etc. They have not posed a serious threat to the print or TV media and much less to the online news media. Users and publishers are still unable differentiate much between online and mobile news media.

Mobile is becoming an exciting and dynamic space, moving at the speed of thought. It’s also scary because it disrupts the status quo and does not give us much time to react. Those who ride this wave will have fun, but also run the risk of getting hurt in the process. However, those who don’t accept and acknowledge this change quickly will not get the opportunity to lead the next version of Mobile News. 

Come 2014 and it’s time to build upon the experience of last few years of online and mobile apps. The state of the market has changed-

1. Viewers have realized the great potential of mobile devices
2. Devices are becoming more capable by the day
3. Smartphones and tablets with new versions of iOS, Android and Windows OSs are becoming a real option for the masses
4. Internet speeds are increasing. Cost of bandwidth is going down. Internet is available almost everywhere.
5. Every adult and a teenager will soon carry a connected smart device at all times
6. Social media has changed the world
7. News consumption habits have undergone a generation shift

 Mobile News 2.0 will establish Mobile as a serious major for news. News organizations will need to make substantial investments of intent, time and money to attract and retain viewers. Mobile News will become a serious revenue opportunity in large parts of the world. Many players will vie for this market place – legacy media organizations, technology companies, innovators, fly-by-night operators and money bags. All disruptions bring forth opportunities that can be capitalized. Little investment can bring big returns if your ideas click. On the other hand, often the smartest and the biggest players may read the opportunity wrong and can make big and costly mistakes. To earn serious mobile revenue, the minimum requirement will be to get your newsroom team to focus on this medium. In this generation, if you do not publish content specifically targeted at mobile users, you’re unlikely to find much success. 

A generation in Mobile News apps is expected to have a span of 3 years. While I am offering a few leads to the things that we expect to see in the next few months, I am expecting to see some real quantum jumps or some really new directions.

1. Mobile first publishing
2. Rich content and presentation
3. Interactivity; newer ways of interactivity
4. Personalization
5. Go Local
6. Convergence of online, apps and social media
7. Sharing
8. Experiments with journalism
9. Experiments with syndication
10. New ways to monetize the content
11. New measurements of popularity
12. New ways of targeting
13. New ways of advertising/promotion
14. Virtual reality
15. News to Knowledge
16. News to Action

I invite you to share your views on what Mobile News 2.0 will look like. Over the next month or two, I intend to dive deeper into each of these directions and others added by you and hope that you’ll join me in this journey. 


Rakesh Kapoor