A new survey from Media Industry Newsletter and IWantMedia shows that most magazine publishing executives say that despite the hype surrounding mobile data platforms, their expectations and plans to go mobile remain modest.

Of the few magazine brands that have embraced the demand for mobile extensions claim early success in their efforts but unclear revenue models, complex uncommunicative relationships with carriers and other problems are currently keeping magazines at bay. Out of 43 respondents, mostly magazine executives, only a quarter of the magazines have tried to integrate some sort of mobile application. When asked if they anticipate mobile extensions of their magazines generatng substantial revenue, only 12% said yes while 36% said they expect marginal revenue and 52% expect it to serve primarily as a branding extension.

When it comes to paying a premium for new mobile media services, KPMG, the audit, tax and advisory firm, revealed a survey that showed reluctance to fork over more money. The survey showed that North American consumers listed the cell phone as the means by which they preferred to consume all types of media, except music.

"This indicates a preconditioned comfort level with the cell phone as an all-purpose multimedia terminal, which is a positive sign for providers of converged services," said Carl Geppert, Partner and Industry Leader for KPMG’s Americas Communication and Media Practice.

Geppert beleives that "Service providers should use enhanced and bundled services to deepen customer relationships and allow other parties to reach users, delivering a loyal subscriber base that is attractive to advertisers and digital commerce partners," he said.

The survey also found that 90 percent of North American consumers stated a preference for a single service provider, and 89 percent desired a single, consolidated bill for all the services they use. But the most important statistic from this research shows that North American respondents said they would spend only up to 10 percent more than their current bill, a figure that might not be worth newspaper or magazine investment into the mobile realm.

Source : Media Industry Newsletter Online and Sys.con Media