世論 What Japan Thinks

Personally, I’ve always thought it was a daft idea, and never knew why companies are pushing it so hard over here in Japan. The last thing you want from a mobile is for the battery to run out, and trying to follow the action on a tiny screen with a non-existant aerial seems like a lesson in frustration. This survey seems to back up my opinions. It was carried out at the end of July, amongst 2,156 people from a private internet survey group, 55.1% male, predominantly under 50 years old.

Q: On what devices do you watch TV? (Sample size=2,128)

Normal TV	98.0%
Car TV	15.7%
Desktop PC	15.7%
Portable PC	3.3%
Mobile phone	2.8%
Dedicated mobile TV receiver	0.4%
Other	0.3%

I’m not sure if the figures include watching downloaded content. Also, the 15.7% who watch on a car TV probably includes a scarely large percentage who watch when driving!

Next, taking the people who said they watched TV on mobile devices (portable PC, mobile phone or dedicated receiver), they asked this question:

Q: How often do you watch TV on the mobile devices when you go out? (Sample size=131)

Just about every day	13.7%
Four or five times a week	6.9%
Two or three times a week	15.3%
Once a week	10.7%
Two or three times a month	9.9%
Once a month or less	9.2%
Never watch TV when going out	34.4%

Next, taking the people who said they watched TV on mobile devices when outside, they asked these questions:

Q: Where do you watch TV when outside? (Sample size=86)

In a train, bus, or other moving vehicle	46.5%
At school or work	39.4%
Cafe, restaurant or other food and drink establishments	37.2%
On holiday	33.7%
At friends’ houses	14.0%
Whilst walking	10.5%
Other	4.7%

Q: What do you watch on TV when outside? (Sample size=86)

News or current affairs	77.9%
Weather forecast	55.9%
Variety programs	49.9%
Sports programs	29.1%
Music programs	26.7%
Dramas	26.7%
Movies	22.1%
Financial, cooking or other lifestyle programs	7.0%
Others	3.5%
Language, etc educational programs	2.3%

Q: What is unsatisfactory about watching TV when outside? (Sample size=86)

Picture interference	77.9%
Battery life is not long enough	65.1%
Difficult to answer the phone	59.5%
Picture is too small to see easily	43.0%
People round about stare	23.3%
Recorded media is awkward	9.3%
Don’t feel anything unsatisfactory	3.5%
Other	0.0%

Back with the group that doesn’t watch TV, they were asked this question:

Q: Do you want to watch TV when outside in the future? (Sample size=2,156)

Definitely want to	17.1%
Perhaps want to	34.1%
Can’t say either way	28.9%
Don’t really want to	14.1%
Definitely don’t want to	5.8%

Taking the group that wants to watch mobile TV in the future, they were asked this question:

Q: How much would you pay to watch TV when mobile? (Sample size=1,105)

Nothing	39.9%
Up to 100 yen per month	15.3%
Up to 300 yen per month	24.7%
Up to 500 yen per month	14.4%
Up to 1000 yen per month	4.9%
Over 1000 yen per month	0.9%

Finally, taking the group that didn’t want to watch mobile TV in the future, they were asked this question:

Q: Why don’t you want to watch mobile TV when outside? (Sample size=1,051)

Picture may be too small to see easily	50.1%
Battery life may be not long enough	44.6%
Picture may have interference	31.2%
May be difficult to answer the phone	30.1%
Other	23.9%
People round about may stare	17.0%
Recorded media may be awkward	7.0%