ABC Increase their lead with ABC Mobile

There is no doubt that ABC are the Australian leaders for broadcasting their content across alternative platforms. They currently broadcast on two digital channels (ABC1 and ABC 2), along with iView an online platform,  accompanied by their media rich website. ABC now have further placed their mark as being the leaders in transmedia broadcasting with the introduction of ABC Mobile (http://m.abc.net.au/).

This will allow a phone that has internet to access the ABC Mobile site. ABC has designed dedicated applications for the iPhone and Andriod. Both of which are free downloads, with the iPhone application in the top 5 of the “Top Free Apps” section on the iTunes Store.

The commencement of ABC Mobile will be a site text based, excluding any audio or video material. This decision was made so data usage is kept at a low for the users. The good news is there is some video and audio content for the iPhone users. The menu of the iPhone application is intuitive with a range of content available including:

Latest – Gives an update of all the section below.
News – Broken into Top Stories, Just In, Sport, World and many more
TV – Includes a TV guide for ABC1 and ABC2 along with podcasts to view, currently there is 5 available.
Radio – Includes a guide for a number of ABC’s radio program along with a number of podcasts.
More – Sporting Results, Movie Reviews, the ABC Shop and more.

There are a few negative points with the application including:

• You can only view the latest episode for the programs not any previous programs.
• The limited amount of content of video.
• The ABC Store sells DVD, Music, Books, but none of these are for digital download.
• To purchase an item on the store you must call (Using the quick link provided) rather than purchase it directly through the application.

but I’m sure these will be future improvements.

Overall ABC and moving further forward as the commercial networks continue to be static in their approach to alternative broadcast platforms.

RELATED LINKS
ABC Mobile BETA
http://www.abc.net.au/innovation/mobile_beta/

ABC launches mobile content platform
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/03/16/2517183.htm

ABC Now Going After Mobile Users
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2009/03/abc_now_going_after_mobile_users.html