Mobile TV as a technology has been the buzz word of 2006, with most handset manufacturers introducing mobile TV phones of some form (with the exception of Sony Ericsson, although a Sony Ericsson Wega phone may be on its way for 2007).

Mobile phone operators across Europe are readying their networks for the provision of mobile TV, Virgin has released its ungainly looking Lobster mobile TV phone in the UK, the US market looks on eagerly, but will probably have to wait till 2010, while the Koreans are now probably watching holographic mobile TV!

But there's one question that no-one's asked yet - what will we all actually be watching? And will we bother with the traditional TV channels when we'll have free access to a Mobile YouTube?

Nokia's Mobile TV report

All this comes off the back of a report commissioned by Nokia into the future of Mobile TV. The report, "This Box was Made for Walking", was written by Dr. Shani Orgad of The London School of Economics, who predicts that mobile TV will be a more personal and private experience than the current home-based TV we're all used to. Well, nothing new there then - a mobile phone is generally more personal and private than your TV, so of course the experience is going to follow suit!

Dr. Orgad claims that "Mobile TV will become a multimedia experience with an emphasis on personalisation, interactivity and user-generated content," with the current trend of user generated content, as seen by the phenomenal growth of YouTube, being a key feature.

Which leads me to think: watching YouTube clips on your mobile is exactly the type of thing you'd do whilst on the train or the tube, or waiting for your mate in a coffee shop. In fact, YouTube clips would fit into the mobile TV viewing experience so perfectly, it's hard to see how the type of mobile TV programmes being dreamt up by the current TV broadcasters will even get a look in.

Why Nokia's vision won't work

Dr. Orgad identifies five programme formats as being most likely to emerge on the mobile TV platform. However, for each format he identifies, think of it in the context of your tube journey, or waiting for your friend:

1). Talking heads and close ups - due to the small screen size, broadcasters will need to focus on talking heads, where viewers will be able to watch close-ups and see the details, rather than capturing a wide screen.

Really? I don't want to see talking heads - I want to see action, funny videos, car crashes, JackAss stunts, stoopid animals, 5 minute reviews of gadgets, volcanoes - anything that will keep me occupied before my friend arrives or my my journey ends. I only have ten minutes to kill - I don't want to spend that time watching heads talking!

2). 'Snackable content' - mobile TV content will need to be suitable for 'snacking'.

Couldn't agree more - I snack on action, funny videos, car crashes, JackAss stunts, maybe even reconstructions of Bellagio fountains made of 1001 Coke bottles. I'm bored, dammit, I'm on the tube, I just need something dumb to entertain me!

3). Mobisodes - mobisodes are fragmented and small made-for-mobile episodes that cater to bite-sized portions of content on the go.

Yuck - 'mobisodes' goes into my made-up-term hatelist second only to 'edutainment'. Who wants to see a 5 minute clip of a soap opera? There's only so much you can get over in 5 minutes - how many soap operas are people watching on YouTube?

4). Visual spectacle - programmes will need to emphasise visual spectacle over conventional narrative and be image-orientated.

Er - action, funny videos, car crashes, JackAss stunts anyone?!

5). Local content - content should be relevant for the here-and-now of viewers.

No idea what this even means! I don't want relevance, I want something to make my mind off my depressingly dull tube journey and the dozens of zombified unwashed proles I'm forced to share it with!

Why YouTube is the future of Mobile TV

You only have to look at the plethora of programmes on Digital TV with titles such as the "Most Amazing Videos Ever part 17", or "When Grannies go Bad", or "The World's Wildest Police False Imprisonments", to see that TV is already fragmented. With 1000 channels to choose from, you don't watch TV, you surf.

Now imagine that you only have 10 minutes with which to surf. Do you go for the mobisode of the soap you've never watched, or the clip of the car crash showing the car flying through the air? Do you watch the heads talking about god knows what, or do you watch the stork eating the pigeon in Trafalgar Square?

In other words, you don't have time to go for in-depth, you just want to dip in, take all your attention away from your surroundings, then dip out again.

Mobile TV's not here fully yet - technically it may be, but it's not been adopted widely enough for people's viewing tastes to be fully worked out. But my money's on YouTube being the dominant player in the mobile TV market in the years to come.

And who did Google buy recently? Hmmmmm!...

Mobile YouTube, coming in 2007

So how serious are YouTube about mobile? Well, just a few days ago, Chad Hurley, YouTube chief executive and co-founder, told an advertising conference that offering video services on mobile phones was a key opportunity for the company.

"Within the next year we hope to have something on a mobile device, it's going to be a huge market, especially for the video mind-set we're dealing with, it's a natural transition," said Hurley.

I couldn't agree more. YouTube on the web is already threatening traditional TV audiences. YouTube on your mobile is a no-brainer.