New Year, so resolutions?

OK, OK, I haven't managed to write this blog regularly, and perhaps a New Year's resolution ought to be for me to discipline myself to be more prolific online!

Mind you, I'm not particularly keen on NY resolutions as I think one becomes a hostage to fortune by suggesting that one will do new things, or do things better. Anyway, I will do my best to keep this more up-to-date in 2011.

So what's happening in AIB at the moment. We're just finishing off the latest edition of our international media magazine, The Channel, which goes to press on 11 January. The magazine will be distributed at some major events around the world such as Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February and the Al Jazeera Forum in Doha the following month.

I will be at both these events, discovering in Barcelona, I hope, the latest developments in mobile and mobile content and the potential for content distribution. AIB is organising a member-only private networking dinner to bring AIB members into contact with senior executives from across the mobile industry.

And we have the first AIB member-only conference call on 12 January and then there's lots going on with research for our market intelligence briefings and planning the 2011 AIBs.

So, best wishes for a very Happy New Year and let's hope that despite continuing uncertainty in global finance and rising food prices, 2011 is a great year!

MWC - mobile first, content...well, not quite sure

The annual mobile-fest, Mobile World Congress, is underway in Barcelona where, on the third day, the sun has finally come out lifting the spirits of the several tens of thousands of visitors.

There´s a clear message emanating from here: mobile is the future. And that means the device in everyone´s pocket is definitely going to become even more important. However, there´s increasing pressure on mobile bandwidth as more smartphones come into use globally - here in Barcelona trying to browse the web or download a new app on my BlackBerry can take a very long time. I´m not convinced that users will stand for the sort of delays I have been experiencing.

So, while Google´s Eric Schmidt makes a definitive statement that for Google, it´s "mobile first", there is still an immense amount of work to be done to bring the mobile web to users globally. And as for quality content, there are ever more challenges for broadcasters. A different app is needed for every phone brand at the moment and while the intention to have a single app platform across all makes is a great idea, I wonder when it will become reality.

That means that few content owners are actively promoting their offers to mobile operators here, despite the fact that almost every mobile operator in the world attends this event. AIB member Deutsche Welle is here, on the NRW stand in hall 1, while France 24 is on Mobiclip in hall 2. Other content providers include Rotana, up in hall 7 (which is app world, so I´m not quite sure why they are there), and the BBC has a team of several/lots of people walking the stands...I´ve counted four or five people already from the BBC.

AIB will be analysing what we are learning here for our members in the next couple of weeks.

AIB up in lights at MWC - well, on flags, actually!

AIB gets great mentions at the entrance to hall 2 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this year.

Our award to France 24 in the 2009 AIBs is celebrated on around 48 banners lining the walkway into hall 2, encouraging visitors to go to the Mobiclip stand.

Thanks, Mobiclip - doubtless you will be supporting the 2010 AIBs...

Happy New Year!

The start of 2010 has seen the AIB head office in rural Kent, south-east of London, surrounded by snow and ice as Britain is gripped by the coldest winter in more than a quarter of a century. The level of preparedness for bad weather in the UK has been abysmal, with train services slashed and a distinct lack of grit on the roads. Perhaps it's partly because the UK's Meteorological Office forecast a mild winter [it had earlier predicted a dry, hot summer - something that failed to be translated into reality]. Despite all the trials and tribulations of getting to work, AIB staff have ploughed through the snow and are busy working for our global membership.

At AIB, we're busy planning our activities for 2010. Mobile is something that continues to be important for us as we try to forge relationships between mobile companies and broadcasters. We'll be at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month, facilitating meetings between broadcasters and mobile operators and manufacturers, ensuring AIB members' content is high on the agendas of mobile companies.

We're involved with a range of conferences this year, starting with RadioAsia in New Delhi towards the end of February, FICCI Frames in March, the FT Digital Media conference in London, and digital TV events in Moscow and Beijing. We'll be chairing events, starting conversations and reporting on developments in many different markets to AIB members.

It's going to be a busy year, with lots going on - including the sixth annual AIBs, our international media excellence awards, which we'll launch at MIP TV in Cannes in April. The Awards will be presented at our gala evening in London in November - you can get a flavour of last year's event with photos at Flickr.

So, back to work...

AIB working hard

It's a busy time at the AIB as we follow up on a range of work for our members throughout the world. 

As my blog on Monday reported, I've been at the FT Digital Media conference in London where I had some interesting and informative discussions with a number of people. On Friday, it's off to Doha for the fourth Al Jazeera Forum. 

In the meantime, the AIB is following up on a number of discussions that started at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. For example, we're in discussion with a company that has got mobile TV content distribution agreements in place in a large number of countries in Asia. I'm going to see how we can get our members' content onto this new platform as it comes online in the coming weeks in emerging markets. 

We're also hard at work on the research of the new AIB directory - now renamed as the AIB Global Broadcasting Sourcebook. This new sourcebook has completely revised and updated content, plus a whole lot of context to make it an indispensible guide to media worldwide. OK - a plug: you can book an enhanced entry for your company or take advertising in the sourcebook. Download the media pack here and talk to us soon!

Good mobile and broadcasting session

This afternoon I've had the privilege to chair the broadcasting session at Mobile World C0ngress in Barcelona. The session's title was ‘Mobile’s role in the changing face of broadcast’. I said in my introduction that I wasn't convinced that the title is correct - perhaps it should have been called broadcasting’s role in the changing face of mobile as mobile is definitely changing from a voice-only proposition to one that encompasses many more facets from music to gaming to broadcast content.

I had a great line-up of speakers including Sean Kane from Bebo, Richard Titus from the BBC, Jonathan Marks of Critical Distance, Michel Mol of Netherlands Public Broadcasting and Stanislas Leridon from France 24. They explained their organisation's work in the mobile field, and some mentioned the difficulty in engaging with mobile operators - something that a good number of AIB members have mentioned to me. Indeed, Michel Mol said that it was only after a mobile operator was "named and shamed" on national TV that it came to the table and started talking to NPO!

France 24's new iPhone application - the first by an international news channel - has had more than 100,000 downloads in its first few days said Stan Leridon, making it one of the top ten iPhone apps. Quite amazing and something I understand that the BBC's Global News division is taken aback by, wondering why it wasn't first in this arena.

Good debate, so thanks to all my speakers and to the GSM Association for letting broadcasting into the mobile show...now all we need is for operators to engage with broadcasters!

Barcelona leads

Here in Barcelona it's been chillier than in previous years during Mobile World Congress. However, in the conference and exhibition the temperature has been hotting up with some of the AIB's contacts talking of the best event ever for deals.

That's good news and certainly the AIB has enjoyed getting a whole raft of leads of people and organisations that are interested in what our membership does and in getting involved with the AIB's events, such as the 2009 AIB Media Excellence Awards - the AIBs. 

We'll be following up on those over the coming few days and look forward to working with more companies in the mobile industry during the year. 

Now it's time for me to work on the mobile and broadcast session that I'm chairing here on Thursday...

Not much of a recession in mobile

Judging by the flight traffic into Barcelona over the weekend, and the proportion of BA planes given over to business class (more than 50% on the flight I took out of London Gatwick on Sunday), the recession has passed the mobile industry by.

Lots of activity here in Barcelona as Mobile World Congress gets underway this Monday morning, although the queues to get into the Fira weren't as bad as last year.

Good to see that AIB member France 24 is here, on a corner of the Actimagine stand in hall 2. Vizrt is also here, in hall 7 and DW on the NRW stand in hall 2.

Looking forward to the warmer climate of Catalonia

It has been a manic week for me, trying to prepare for Mobile World Congress while at the same time managing the start of the building project that will see the AIB's offices in Kent increased to deal with the burgeoning amount of work we have! Standing in the snow and ice this morning talking with the builder caused my bones to shiver...so the thought of a few days in Barcelona has become more appealing!

Meanwhile, it's been a nightmare trying to get to talk to the speakers on the panel I'm chairing with phone conference call systems not doing what they're supposed to. However, I'm slowly making headway and there'll be a cracking panel on Thursday afternoon. It's already being reported in 'The Hollywood Reporter' and in the US edition of 'Media Week'. My hope is that the mobile operators catch on to the fact the content owners and broadcasters want to engage with them - although judging by the responses to my requests for appointments (mostly met with an icy silence that matches the weather here in the UK) , I don't think that the message has got through. Come on Orange, come on Vodafone - open your doors to an opportunity!

It's more nimble companies that will steal a march on the big guns - people who understand the market and understand the drivers for getting content onto mobile. I've been impressed by a new kid on the block with which the AIB is just starting a coherent conversation: Swanbay. We're talking to them over the next few days, and I think it will be something that the AIB's members will benefit from. 

More from Barcelona in the next few days. And mobile operators - you can find me in Barcelona and contact details are on the AIB website!

Barcelona beckons

I'm busily preparing for Mobile World Congress, taking place in Barcelona between 16 and 19 February. It's organised by the GSM Association that represents the world's mobile operators and it's a colossal event. 

I've been involved already as one of the judges of the Mobile Awards (being presented on Tuesday night) and as moderator of the panel examining synergies between broadcasting and mobile (and boy, there's lots of opportunity there). 

AIB will be at MWC in force, helping AIB members to get connected to the people they need to talk to - people searching for content, for example. There's lots to see and do, and lots of people from all over the planet with whom to start interesting conversations.

See you there?