Anyone reading the Yankee Group Blogs or research knows that Anywhere matters to us. It is the fundamental core of our research and yet we are still often asked why it matters. After arriving at the office and taking care of urgent matters such as checking my fantasy baseball score (I am winning this week!), I rolled through my RSS Feeds when this little ditty from PC World popped up: Toshiba Ends Direct to Handset Broadcast. As someone who covered Blu-ray and HD-DVD since the beginning I was intrigued to see how Toshiba had failed in another format.

The failure of Toshiba’s MBCO in Japan was the result of two factors – requiring a dedicated terminal and only offering a linear experience. While the article highlights how some other services worldwide are succeeding they remain niche plays. Failure is the result of a lack of understanding that experiences cannot be transposed from one use case to another and assumed to be a success. Consumers are getting acclimated to accessing their desired content on demand (already happening en masse), on any device they choose (happening on a smaller scale), whenever they want it.

Direct to handset broadcast services may be interesting to a small segment of the population but for Actualized Anywheres (the most advanced Anywhere Consumer segment) these use cases are not particularly compelling. Instead they own Sling Boxes (or other placeshiting technology) to view subscription TV content, have home media servers to access their personal libraries, and use their handsets to access content from the web. For time sensitive information like sports scores, stock quotes, and news there are ways other than video that provide the information faster and in a more personalized manner.

While I still feel there is strength in linear broadcast for traditional television content, bringing that experience beyond the home is a challenge unless it too offers flexibility, such as an embedded DVR in your handset (which would do wonders for your battery life).  To succeed, companies must enable users to personalize their experience in a way that is unique and relevant to them as an individual. Doing so will allow manufacturers and SPs to gain cutting edge (and high ARPU) subscribers today and grow their base as more consumers actualize their Anywhere behavior.

The fact that MBCO failed in Japan is an indication that Anywhere is in fact a global phenomenon. It will not stop it will only proliferate faster. And as Toshiba spends over $200M to shut down its service it now knows why Anywhere matters.

A note: This is my third consecutive post that has not mentioned a certain fruit company in Cupertino – a new record for me.