Reports this week claim that initial successful efforts by the BBC to bring its iPlayer video platform to mobile devices could seriously kick-start the flagging mobile TV sector. Last September, the BBC announced that the iPlayer application was to become available on mobile for the first time following a deal with Nokia, enabling users of the N96 device to download BBC television programmes for up to seven days after broadcast. Programmes can be downloaded over a Wi-Fi network or 3G connection. Several other handsets now support the service, including Nokia’s N85, Samsung’s Omnia and Sony Ericsson’s C905. “My sense is that we are at a critical moment where the audience is finally ready to have video and radio content on the mobile,” the Financial Times (FT) cites Richard Titus, BBC controller of mobile and future media, as stating this week.

The report adds that with more consumers becoming familiar with video streaming on their PCs, the Mobile Entertainment Forum predicts that “2009 will be the year that mobile video really takes off.” Industry insiders expect the mobile iPlayer to act as a catalyst for other broadcasters to follow suit. Previous attempts to offer broadcast television to mobiles, as opposed to delivery over 3G networks, have stalled amid a lack of international standards and investment from operators. Meanwhile, The Guardian reported yesterday that the most popular news application in Apple’s iTunes service is the ITN television bulletin, having been downloaded almost 45,000 times for free in ten days.