TV on BlackBerries from CanWest and Rogers

CanWest MediaWorks and Rogers Wireless have launched bbTV, a new media player for delivering TV content to BlackBerry users in Canada.

bbTV will offer Rogers Wireless customers access to near TV quality synchronized audio and video files of leading CanWest MediaWorks content, including breaking and daily news from Global News, Global National, Global Morning and the Financial Post.

In addition, bbTV will provide daily sports information and commentary from Rogers Sportsnet, Canada's number one regional sports service.

CanWest has partnered with Rogers Wireless to provide the bbTV media player free of charge to Rogers Wireless' BlackBerry customers through a new video rate plan for $5 per month.

"bbTV will provide BlackBerry consumers with daily clips of high quality on-demand video content they can take on the go and we're very excited to be the first-to-market in Canada with this technology," said Arturo Duran, President, Interactive and Business Integration, CanWest MediaWorks Inc. in a release. "bbTV gives us a new distribution platform for delivering our content and provides advertisers with a new advertising platform to reach niche audiences in a more targeted way."

CanWest will generate revenue through advertising sales - all content downloads on bbTV will begin and end with five second advertising promos. The response from the advertising community has been extremely positive with General Motors, Royal Bank of Canada, Tylenol and Labatt signing on as bbTV's first advertising partners.

"We're living in a mobile generation now, where consumers are using a variety of ways to stay connected and receive information on the go," said Hugh Dow, President of M2 Universal, media agency for GM, Royal Bank, Tylenol and Labatt. "We see bbTV as an important platform that our clients can incorporate into their marketing efforts and ensure they are reaching target markets as their needs evolve."

In Canada, bbTV will be marketed by both Rogers and CanWest MediaWorks. Rogers Wireless customers can now subscribe to the newly launched video plan and have bbTV wirelessly installed on their BlackBerry free of charge.

"As Canada's leading provider in data communications services, Rogers Wireless is always looking to help customers save time by bringing the latest innovation in mobile communications," said John Boynton, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Rogers Wireless. "Instead of reading the news, our customers can now watch it unfold anywhere, at any time in a comprehensivetime saving format."

CanWest has licensed the new technology from Sona Mobile Holdings Corp, a leading provider of wireless software to the financial services, enterprise, entertainment and gaming markets. CanWest and Sonaannounced the first-ever MediaPlay er for BlackBerry at the Wireless Enterprise Symposium in Orlando this past May.

"We are thrilled to offer the first-ever commercially available media player for BlackBerry. For the very first time, Canadian BlackBerry users can receive and play video on their BlackBerry devices," said Niall Carson, Sona Mobile's Vice President responsible for the MediaPlayer for BlackBerry. "We believe that this application will be very well-received in the marketplace and the BlackBerry community."

(c) MediaCaster