Are you ready for mobile web?

An interesting development in the Australian media landscape should prepare you for what’s already taking shape in the UK.

A question asked by a radio executive friend a few days ago inspired the title of this post.  He was talking about the changing habits of Australian listeners and viewers and their relationship to online content.  Australia, he informs me is  a good pointer to the future of content media elsewhere in the world – but why?

It is all down to our Ozzy cousins being early adopters of 4G networks, you may know that 4G is the fourth generation of cell phone mobile communications standards.  The majority of the major City’s in Australia has 4G – Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Newcastle and Melbourne.

What does that mean for the consumer? It means that every person in a 4G area has the ability to have ‘Ultraspeed Broadband’ in the palm of their hand, be it mobile phones or tablet devices. The main effect this is having on the media market is quite interesting and media companies are already adapting to the possibilities in the UK.

Global radio, who own what would be considered major radio brands in the UK, has been steadily employing presenters with TV experience as a part of their radio station teams.  They’ve also invested in TV channels for their Capital and Heart brands.  The BBC has been trailing radio and combined TV content for years via the red button on your TV.

Australian broadcasters are way ahead.  The Southern Cross Media Group includes TV, radio, newspaper and web as an offering for potential consumers.  Clive Dickens is the Director of Digital Innovation,  and was the former director of Absolute Radio in the UK and oversaw their digital platforms as well as radio and online businesses, he knows that the fastest growing trend for consumption of their products is mobile web.

Clive advises that content is no longer about the platform but about where people want to consume the product.  If it’s audio it may be in the car, walking the dog, yet if it’s visual and audio it could be in the kitchen, living room or bedroom.  You choose what you want and where you want it.

Back to Global employing TV presenters for their radio stations, which for the radio purist has always been an area of consternation, it does seem they too are gearing up for multi-media skills for a multi media driven age of broadcast.

The other interesting thing about the Australian approach is that everything is just a couple of swipes away.  It is easy to tune in, which can be an issue for prospective Podcast listeners.  Clive Dickens remarked that Southern Cross want ownership of their content, they don’t want to be tied to Apple or Android.  An issue for Podcasters and sometimes the fact that the Android listening experience can be a bit stop start.

The point for you as a podcaster is to perhaps think about how your content will be available in the future. Would it be good to think about making your content available in different or duel formats.   Quite possibly when 4g is fully available and at decent speeds everywhere in the UK it will change how people listen or view your content.  What’s definite is your competition, traditional media companies, is already gearing up for the new frontier of media consumption.