John Houghton's New Media Blog

I was just drafting a press release for a wonderful new set of episodes entitled “The Future of Mobile Connectivity” for the program New Media Currents and I was looking to verify research showing that the number of mobile devices or mobile subscribers is surpassing or has surpassed the number of TV sets in the world.  Here is some of the research I have found.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=707714

Of course, you all know it is widely predicted that the number of mobile devices will double from two billion to four billion in the next 5 years.  As far as what I saw for number of radios worldwide, the results are mixed, but I saw one credible estimate of 2.5 billion radios.  It makes sense that there are more radios since I have at least 5 between my clock radio, FM walkman, car stereo, livingroom receiver, etc.  The current episode of new media currents talks about how consumers are using their two billion mobile devices in surprising ways, such as tracking elephants in Africa or buying golf balls at the driving range in Germany.  Africa is the largest growth area.  Check it out:

http://www.newmediacurrents.com/

It used to be all about TV media strategy but with the recent shift to online media consumption habits, companies are placing increasing emphasis in online strategy.  If you snooze you lose is what Viacom is learning as YouTube and myspace eat MTV’s lunch (Viacom owns MTV).  Lack of online strategy and erosion to new media has prompted the firing of Viacom’s CEO, Tom Freston.  This is just one of the many consequences we will see as advertising dollars follow consumers online.