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Users already willing to pay for news on the iPhone, says Sky mobile

Posted: 24/08/09 By: Laura Oliver

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Sky News passed a mobile landmark last week as its recently launched iPhone app accrued more than 500,000 downloads.

The iPhone launch has accelerated the company's existing mobile business, David Gibbs, general manager for mobile at BskyB, tells Journalism.co.uk.

BskyB has run a successful mobile TV business for four of the main mobile network operators and had a record number of monthly users for its sports and news mobile package last year.

But there are still big opportunities for expanding on smartphones after the news organisation launched its first application following the iPhone's UK launch in 2007, says Gibbs.

In particular, the company is looking at charging for downloads of its iPhone application by users outside of the UK and Ireland.

"We are obviously keen to see how much money we can make out of these applications. Mobile advertising is still in its infancy. There is a market and we have run some successful campaigns on our application (...) but we are looking at how we can make money out of these services," he explains.

"We are looking at whether people will be prepared to pay for the Sky News brand in other markets and we are looking at other ways that we might generate revenue from the application in the UK as well."

There are certain advantages to testing out paid-for content on iPhones, he adds. "The beauty of the mobile is that customers are used to paying for content. In the mobile space the market started with people paying for content and people are used to it because of the relationship they have with their operators. They can pay for pieces of content and it just appears on their monthly bill - that's something we need to look at."

There's no set download fee currently in mind, as the plans are in their infancy, but Gibbs says he could see a range of new revenue streams from mobile, mixing advertising, paid-for downloads and premium subscription services.

"There's an argument that customers will pay for convenience which is what we see with our mobile TV services," he says.

"A free application that will be ad-funded and that will meet the demands of a certain audience but there will always be an audience that wants something more and is willing to pay for that."

With a proliferation of news applications available for iPhone customers, the news organisation must continue to differentiate itself in the mobile space, he says.

Success so far has been driven by news and sports content, and the simplicity of the application, which lends itself to breaking news updates and quick fixes of information, explains Gibbs.

While one of the more interesting features of the recently released product is the ability for users to send text and images via the app to Sky News, the service is intended for broader use, he says.

An improved video offering across Sky's mobile services has also helped set it apart from the competition, he adds, and a range of improvements to the iPhone app are planned for the next 12 months.

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