The Third Screen is Getting YouTubed

The mantra of the Bubble Generation is connected mobility.  The new consumers want freedom and affiliation at the same time; they want to keep moving but take their buddies with them.  And as a marketer, if you want to reach them, you'd better find a way to go mobile with them. 

That's exactly what's driving the emergence of the Third Screen--the mobile phone--as a major new media platform.  Today, YouTube and Verizon are announcing plans to bring user-submitted videos from the Web to mobile phone customers nationwide starting next month.  But this tube job is hardly the first big play for the small screen   

Given the growing capabilities of the video-capable, data-enabled mobile phone--and dwindling appeal of traditional media to the new consumers--the emergence of video for the Third Screen was only a matter of time.  There are a spate of new companies working this bandwidth.  Companies include Eyespot, ComVu, Juice Wireless, Veeker, Treemo, vpod.tv.

I like MyWaves because it lets users create and subscribe to their friends' "video channels," which today are just back to back video clips, but promise a lot more.  The platform offers a hopeful glimpse at a citizen-driven media future where everyone will own his or her own palmtop TV station.

Getting the BubbleGen consumer to stay put long enough to hear your pitch will be increasingly difficult.  Instead of luring them to you, send them a message on a medium they keep close at hand.

Comments

[Joe Richards]

There's another company in this space that I've seen recently. It's called Zannel...

http://www.zannel.com

You might want to check them out.

Joe

[George]

I like mywaves too. I had a channel of video clips from my Aspen trip that my friends could watch from their phones.