JibJab Teams With Verizon For Comedy Sketch Competition
Verizon Wireless and JibJab have teamed up with John Landis (director of the legendary Blues Brothers, as well as Animal House and Trading Places) in the Great Sketch Experiment, which is basically a competition of "six laugh-out-loud short films featuring the best up-and-coming sketch comedians in the country". Each film was directed by Landis and the winner will receive a $10,000 development deal with JibJab and have their performance featured on Verizon Wireless' V CAST service. The six videos are available as of today for free at JibJab.com or on Verizon Wireless' V CAST service in the V CAST Showcase channel. Aside from original content, Verizon is probably banking on getting some reflected cool from JibJab, which became famous with a viral hit video lampooning the elections. The finalists are: –Karla – Marion Austin Oberle and Megan Kellie (Los Angeles) –Elephant Larry – Alexander Zalben, Stefan Lawrence, Chris Principe, Jeff Solomon and Geoff Haggerty (New York) –Riegel & Blatt – Sam Riegel and Rob Blatt (New York) –Mark & Ari – Mark Sarian and Ari Voukydis (New York) –Famous Last Nerds – Erik Weiner and Jordan Allen Dutton (San Francisco) –Train of Thought – John Boyle, Ryan Miller and Kaci Aitchison (Seattle)
Xero, the MVNO with plans to offer heavily advertising-supported mobile services to tertiary students, has said it will begin testing with a limited subscriber base before a full launch in January. "Xero says that it will use patent-pending video composition and compression techniques to "deliver high-quality video advertising at substantially lower costs than existing download and streaming solutions". The company will rely on "real-time reverse billing" to grant subscribers immediate air time credits after they watch advertisements."
I had a quick chat with Mark Selby outside the conference and asked him about the infamous GooTube deal, or whatever we’re calling it now. Selby is VP of multimedia at Nokia but has a personal interest in user-generated content and says he now watches more YouTube than live broadcasts. He said the deal with Google is fascinating and like many others around Mipcom, he wants to see how the lawyers treat YouTube now it has real money behind it. As Google introduces advertising to YouTube and starts to monetize the site, anyone with a case for copyright infringement is likely to step up. But Selby also says the next essential step for UGC is to pay users for contributions: “We have got to see those individuals that are creating being able to generate income from it. If we have citizens who understand the true value of content and understand how to make money, they’re far more likely to respect professional content. Here we have individuals, many who believe that if it’s on the internet, it’s a public domain and therefore it’s free. Many of them do not grasp the complex world of copyright and rights.” He said some of the UGC platforms at the moment have draconian terms and conditions. “Basically you put your video up and you’ve lost all rights to that and anyone else can sell it to whoever they like.” Rights holders and rights owners are fiercely protective of their copyright and fear they are being ripped off by the public: “Yet some of those organisations - and I stress ’some’ - are doing exactly the same to citizens that are submitting photographs they’ve taken of a fire or a crash through a sense of social responsibility. The moment it’s gone in, that media company is ripping off to an even greater extent, and rather than enjoying it just for their own purpose as many citizens are, they’re actually going out and syndicating and selling it to other parties.” He said there was none of the predicted backlash against MySpace after the News Corp acquisition, and that the GooTube deal isn’t likely to trigger any migration to other video-sharing sites - mostly because people would have to rebuild their profile, content and network from scratch on a rival site. There’s also a great deal of trust on user-gen platforms, and he referred to the rambling video diaries of UK pensioner Geriatric1927: “YouTube has absolutely demonstrated the value of UGC. For people to share such raw emotion in that manner demonstrates the trust and the value placed on it.” – He agrees that there’s a big opportunity for content producers right now to fulfill the demand for made-for-mobile, exciting, creative TV and video content. There’s more of an opportunity - and a challenge - for translating advertising to that space as well: “If you’ve been working for the last however many years with a 30-second mindset, and now you’ve got to transfer to a 5 second, how do you do it? For us it’s the fact that you’ve got this ability to create, you’ve got this amazing method of distribution and on the back of that the potential is phenomenal.” Nokia has been working with a number of directors to experiment with filming and showing films on mobiles. Selby: “The most important thing for us is putting capability into the devices that will enable people to contribute. If you look at the number of videos on YouTube that have actually been generated from mobile phones and cameras because people were in that place at that moment and they could record it ‐ now they can edit that film with tools we provide and upload them.”
Sprint Nextel to offer new made-for-mobile content
FremantleMedia and Mobliss Stretch the Limit of Mobile Programming with Launch of Atomic Wedgie. New Mobile Channel Introduces Hours of Irreverent Original and Library Video Shorts To Consumers Starting October 16th
FremantleMedia and Mobliss®, announced today the launch of a groundbreaking new mobile channel, Atomic Wedgie. The channel will feature hours of original programming as well as content from the FremantleMedia library including hilarious animated and live action shorts and comedic series ranging from Baywatch Babes to the best of British cult comedy and TV Bloopers. Atomic Wedgie will be available on Sprint, one of the largest wireless carriers in the US, starting October 16 for a monthly subscription cost of $4.95.
Atomic Wedgie is the first mobile channel to launch from the joint venture between FremantleMedia, producers of American Idol, Baywatch, Family Feud and several other popular television programs and Mobliss, one of the most trusted names in mobile entertainment and content delivery. The two companies have a history of successful partnerships, including the introduction of SMS messaging for American Idol - the largest text voting campaign in television history - and the creation of the popular mobile games Family Feud and The Price is Right.
“We are blurring the lines between network and producer by programming our own channel,” commented Keith Hindle, Executive Vice President North America, FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide. “The mobile user wants to be entertained on demand, at key moments in their day. Our ability as a producer to create content specifically for this audience, coupled with a unique, FremantleMedia operated direct–to-consumer channel, is the key to Atomic Wedgie.”
FremantleMedia will tap into its powerful worldwide network of producers and mine its extensive library of more than 9,000 hours of TV production annually to create original Atomic Wedgie content. The company will also look outside itself for the best-of-the-best in third party producers to bring fresh, irreverent shorts to the channel. Mobliss provides the technology necessary to power the mobile video clips and with deep roots in the wireless industry, was a critical partner for delivering the channel to top tier carriers.
“Mobliss and FremantleMedia have a successful track record of delivering mobile entertainment that has not only been fun and accessible to everyone, but has helped to cement the mobile device as a true entertainment platform,” added Jim Merrick, President and CEO of Mobliss. “It’s this history combined with the hilarious content that positions Atomic Wedgie for success.”
Atomic Wedgie will debut with eight categories of short form comedy targeted directly to the 18-34 year old male demographic including:
* Baywatch Babes – Hot footage of the sultry ladies from the internationally acclaimed classic TV series * Bush Bites – Animated shorts featuring real audio clips of the president’s most public malapropisms * British Invasion – The best of new material from cult UK TV shows such as Smack the Pony
* Famous Farts in History – Historic speeches with surprise pauses for flatulent farces * Fortune Cookie – A daily dose of mystical comedy * TV Bloopers – The funniest outtakes from FremantleMedia’s vast library * Short & Stupid – Comedic dubs over classic films from the 50’s * Grab Bag – A mish-mash of anything and everything guaranteed to brighten your day
“We’re very excited with all the possibilities that exist for this new medium,” said Maureen Fitzpatrick, FremantleMedia’s Vice President of Mobile Development for FremantleMedia. “Our producers are energized by mobile as it presents the opportunity to create those great comedy concepts they always envisioned. We’re also bringing some great new creative talent to the table who look at producing for mobile in a whole new way than for TV.”
About FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide, Americas:
FremantleMedia Licensing Worldwide, Americas (FLW, Americas) is the licensing arm of FremantleMedia for North and South America. FremantleMedia one of the largest international creators and producers of program brands in the world, with leading prime time drama, serial drama, entertainment and factual entertainment programming in over 40 territories. FLW, Americas exploits FremantleMedia’s many strong brands, including the award winning, American Idol, the world’s longest running gameshow The Price Is Right, the ever-popular Family Feud, and other classic gameshows, across multiple off-screen platforms including merchandising campaigns, live events, sponsorship, interactive and wireless support, home entertainment and music publishing. FLW, Americas is also responsible for additional business diversification initiatives including ‘Thumbdance’, a pioneering wireless channel delivering original made-for-mobile video content on demand.
FLW, Americas is part of FremantleMedia North America (FMNA). FMNA is on the leading edge of global broadcast production, developing some of television's most innovative and watched new programming. Based in Santa Monica and with offices in New York, FMNA has produced such genre-bending shows as the musical/reality phenomenon American Idol. In 2005, FremantleMedia programs garnered 16 Emmy nominations, including six for American Idol. Other credits include The Price Is Right (CBS), the longest-running gameshow in television history, the daily syndicated gameshow Family Feud, Distraction (Comedy Central), American Inventor (ABC), The Gameshow Marathon (CBS), America’s Got Talent (NBC), and the upcoming Monarch Cove (Lifetime).
FremantleMedia is the production arm of the RTL Group, Europe's largest television and radio broadcast company. With interests in 34 television channels and 30 radio stations in 10 countries, RTL Group is a division of leading integrated media and entertainment company Bertelsmann AG. For further information, visit www.fremantlemedia.com.
About Mobliss
Mobliss, an Index Group company, develops the most creative concepts in wireless media and gaming by bringing the world’s best-known brands to the small screen. With an experienced track record developing and publishing BREW, J2ME, SMS, MMS and WAP games, Mobliss connects carriers, game developers and brands. Mobliss brings many popular titles to the mobile space, including Family Feud, PGA TOUR’s TOURCast Mobile, allowing subscribers to track every player and every shot on every course for PGA TOUR Tournament events; and The Price is Right, one of television’s longest running game shows. More information is available at www.mobliss.com/products/games/.
It is no secret that 3G uptake has been pretty disappointing for operators and bemoaning the slow uptake of mobile broadband and content has become a theme for 2006.
But industry analyst Jupiter Research thinks that the trend might change in 2007, thanks to a renewed drive by the operator community.
Ealier this week Vodafone promised to put 24 HSDPA-enabled 3G devices on the shelves by Christmas, a number of which are targeted at the mass market and will have a smaller price tag. Crucially, all the devices will be geared towards Vodafone's Live! portal and the quick access of online content.
Spearheading the GSMA's '3G for All' campaign, 12 mobile operators spanning six continents pledged to drive down the cost of WCDMA handsets with the aim of stimulating adoption in both developed and undeveloped markets.
In the first phase of the campaign, the 12 operators will select a flagship 3G handset designed to appeal to the mass market. Handset vendors have been invited to submit proposals for an advanced 3G device that costs significantly less than a low end 3G device today.
Secondly, the GSMA published guidelines prescribing a common approach for PC manufacturers to fully integrate HSDPA 3G functionality into their product ranges. The Association expects high speed mobile broadband will soon become a standard feature of notebook PCs, offering connectivity and roaming across global mobile networks.
Jupiter Research analyst, Sharon Armbrust, said that the ability to sample content enjoyably -which is a proven lead in to purchasing - "could gain speed pretty quickly in 2007" based on the flurry of recent initiatives from the GSM fraternity and assorted vendors and carriers with fast-tracked projects for enterprise and consumer markets.
"If the enabled devices continue to multiply at the rate they have been introduced in recent weeks and phone manufacturers keep improving on the one click interfaces that get subscribers to the mobile internet and video malls with ease - sometimes by mistake - we're betting the uptick in consumption won't be that far behind," she said.
Turner Broadcasting launches Nokia Content Discoverer 'storefront" for Cartoon Network content downloads
LONDON, UK - Turner Broadcasting and Nokia today announced that high-quality content from Turner's Cartoon Network is being made available for consumer downloads through the Nokia Content Discoverer client, embedded in millions of Nokia devices currently available in markets around the globe.
Under a multi-country agreement between the companies, mobile subscribers will be able to browse, download and purchase over-the-air Cartoon Network games, video clips, and other content from a dedicated Cartoon Network mobile content "storefront" available to consumers through the device-resident Nokia Content Discoverer client, part of Nokia's complete mobile content ecosystem.
A wide selection of popular Cartoon Network favorites - ranging from the sweet-talking, bicep-bulging Johnny Bravo sweeping the ladies off their feet to the scientific world of Dexter's Laboratory - will be offered as part of the Nokia Content Discoverer service, which Nokia developed and maintains.
The new agreement provides a simple method for people to quickly access and enjoy Cartoon Network entertainment on buses, at school or in the office, according to Phil Lawrie, Vice President, Commercial Distribution & Digital Media Sales, Turner Broadcasting.
"Turner is delighted to offer a Cartoon Network catalog as part of the exciting Nokia Content Discoverer initiative," said Mr. Lawrie. "Accessing and buying mobile content can often be challenging for the end-user. Having an embedded showcase for our Cartoon Network content as part of Nokia Content Discoverer will eliminate these barriers and provide a shop window for games, video clips, wallpapers and much more in the future. In a nutshell, it's content purchase made easy - with a positive commercial outcome for all stakeholders: Turner, Nokia and the network operator. And our consumers will now be just a few key-strokes away from Cartoon Network favorites like The Powerpuff Girls and Dexter's Laboratory."
"Offering popular entertainment from Cartoon Network will greatly enhance the value of the Nokia Content Discoverer program to network operators and to the end consumers," commented Brad Brockhaug, Director, Business Development and Channels, Forum Nokia, Nokia's global developer program. "We're excited by the addition of this outstanding new content catalog and look forward to working closely with Turner Broadcasting to address the enormous opportunities for content consumption in the global mobile marketplace."
Territories covered under the agreement include: United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and Norway.
Nokia Content Discoverer facilitates easy access to downloadable content by mobile subscribers through a collection of shopping mall "stores" run by branded content providers, leading content aggregators and mobile service providers. Operators are able to build their own branded mobile shopping mall, with better positioning of content and the presence of the operator's brand on the device, generating higher adoption. Consumers' experience of content shopping is greatly enhanced through Nokia Content Discoverer's advanced on-device caching of content catalog metadata which allows free browsing of the content stores in the mobile mall, as well as automatic content updates, integrated preview/prelisten and proficient content installation capabilities.
Nokia Content Discoverer is currently embedded in select S60 and Series 40 devices available in the global marketplace, including the Nseries multimedia devices (Nokia N70, N71, N72, N73, N80 and N93), Eseries devices for enterprise users (Nokia E50, E60, E61 and E70), Nokia 5500, and Nokia 3250 handsets currently available in mainland China and on Nokia 6131 devices in China and other Asia-Pacific markets. Nokia Content Discoverer is expected to be in the hands of over 20 million consumers worldwide by the end of 2006.
According to a German-language press release, Mobilcom has tied up with Mobiles Fernsehen Deutschland GmbH (MFD), which has secured spectrum from local media authorities to broadcast TV signals to mobile phones using the DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcast) standard. MoCoNews recently reported that German operators E-Plus, O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone have all thrown their weight behind the competing DVB-H standard for their mobile TV services. MFD also collaborates with Debitel, a mobile service provider and the country's number three, after T-Mobile and Vodafone, in terms of subscribers. Mobilcom's "watcha" offer (available immediately) provides subscribers in 12 major cities (Berlin, Dortmund, Frankfurt, Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne, Leipzig, Munich, Nuremberg, Saarbruecken und Stuttgart) with programming from four local television channels (ZDF, N24, MTV Music and EntertainmentTV, a station broadcasting made-for-mobile content from Germany's television stations Sat.1 and ProSieben) for a flat monthly price of €8.95. In addition, subscribers can access bigFM2see, a visual radio service that provides users access to broadcast radio and simultaneous information about the songs played and the stations playing them. (This service is not from Nokia – just similar to it.) A Mobilcom spokesperson told me that mobile search, and an option for users to buy what they find, is in the pipeline.
18 октября 2006 года в Санкт-Петербурге в рамках 6-ой международной выставки «ИнфоКом – 2006» «МегаФон Северо-Запад» и Nokia успешно продемонстрировали передачу данных со скоростью 3.6 Мбит/c в тестовой сети третьего поколения (3G).
В ходе эксперимента было использовано передовое сетевое оборудование Nokia, а именно 5 базовых станций, радиоконтроллер RNC, узел передачи данных 3G-SGSN и медиа-шлюз MGW.
«Мы рады развитию сотрудничества с нашим стратегическим партнёром «МегаФон» и успешному испытанию тестовой сети HSDPA на базе оборудования и решений Nokia. - комментирует руководитель Nokia Networks в Северо-Западном регионе России Александр Уханов. - Преимущества HSDPA очевидны - данная технология позволит оператору запустить самые современные сервисы с минимальными инвестициями в инфраструктуру, а пользователи получат удобный и оперативный доступ к разнообразным услугам и контенту».
When a single-engine plane crashed into an Upper East Side apartment building on Wednesday, Fox News Channel delivered early live video to its viewers from the crash site using a hand-held mobile phone souped up with streaming video.
Scott Wilder, a cameraman for the network, had been about 20 blocks away on another assignment when the crash occurred. Wilder ran uptown and reported live from the scene using a hand-held Palm Treo smartphone that uses the existing mobile network to transmit video to the Fox News control room. From there, Fox News sent it out live on TV to supplement other video being shot by local traffic helicopters.
Wilder's work represents one of the first instances of a network using video captured via mobile phone camera live on the air. Fox News has experimented with the practice several times in recent weeks with CometVision, software designed by Ohio-based Comet Video Technologies.
"We've been waiting for the opportunity to get live pictures on the air from inside a cellular network, and we wanted to take it to the next level, make it easy for people and make it portable," said Ben Ramos, director of field operations for Fox News.
TV journalism already has deployed a digital-video camera attached to a mobile phone to transmit a live picture. In addition, most if not all of the networks have used mobile phone video, but not live. Ordinary citizens have made use of them at incidents including the London transit bombings and the South Asia tsunami, capturing footage for later use before any news cameras arrive.
The live picture quality from the crash site wasn't spectacular, with scattered shots of the scene and little movement. Wilder talked to "Studio B" anchor Shepard Smith as he held the camera; the control room fed live pictures over the network to accompany Wilder's commentary.
But Wednesday's phone-borne report provided a different perspective in the early moments after the crash, when satellite trucks hadn't reached the scene and the coverage was dominated by overhead shots. The video quality provides illustration for phone interviews that didn't exist before without much more equipment.
CometVision runs on a Palm Treo 700-series PDA via the Windows Mobile operating system. The technology is able to transmit video over non-3G networks, using much less bandwidth than would normally be needed, Comet CEO Howard Becker said.
"We have it set up so you can push one button" and then it starts to work, Becker said. That includes automatically connecting to a computer at the Fox News studio, and sending an e-mail to a producer or anyone else at the network who has a link to the live stream.
No one at Fox News is suggesting that CometVision will ever replace video cameras; the technology is just another choice and it might, at some point, be used more often.
"The best use of it is still playing out, and that's the beauty of 24-hour cable news," Fox News vp newsgathering John Stack said. "You're playing without a net, so to speak. Ideally, you'd like to have a state-of-the-art live shot, but you don't always have that luxury."
Fox News stumbled upon CometVision when a Los Angeles-based engineer stopped by Comet's booth at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Comet wasn't marketing the application for TV news, but Ramos said that Comet and Fox News began working together toward that goal.
Now every Fox News bureau has at least one or two of the Treos for photographers and other staff members to bring with them in breaking news or where it isn't possible to bring a full-fledged camera for live coverage.
The first usage of CometVision was October 2, when correspondent Rick Leventhal drove from New York to Nickel Mines, Pa., to cover the Amish school shooting. "Studio B" anchor Smith introduced the video, shot out of the front window of Leventhal's vehicle.
A Fox News staffer also used it recently in covering a story from an Atlanta courthouse. Both videos looked better than what was shot at the site of the plane crash, in part because cell phone network congestion seems to affect the picture quality, Becker said.
It was perfect for use in Wednesday's early coverage because, even in media-heavy Manhattan, it's not always possible to televise live pictures immediately from the scene of a breaking news event. That usually takes satellite trucks, which are slower to get into position than a reporter or photographer carrying a Treo.
There are still drawbacks, which should be eliminated as cell phone networks move to third-generation platforms and as a WiFi backup is developed.
"It'll be used more when the picture itself is of higher quality," Stack said. "It's OK now but it could get better. It depends on the nature of
'Place shifting' TV has arrived on mobile, with SlingMedia and Sony unveiling competing products at the Symbian Smartphone Show today. SlingMedia will deploy a Symbian version of its much-hyped SlingPlayer application in Europe during Q4, while Sony is bundling its LocationFree software with Sony Ericsson's P990 smartphone.
Both services allow mobile users to remotely access living room set-top-boxes and stream video content (be that live TV or PVR recordings) to their phones wherever they are in the world, via either a 3G or Wi-Fi connection.
SlingMedia initially made its mobile player available for Windows-powered phones in the US earlier this year. To use the service, punters need to buy a SlingBox for $180-$250, which plugs into their existing set-top-box.
In a live demo it took approximately 10 seconds for the SlingPlayer software to switch TV channels during a live stream relayed from San Francisco to London using a 3G connection.
Wi-Fi hotspots will remain the most viable mobile connection method for the foreseeable future, however, with the eye watering 100MB/hour of data the service consumes prohibitive on most operator data plans.
SlingMedia told ME it is currently in discussions with networks and vendors regarding embedding the technology in handsets, stressing that the app is particularly attractive to converged 'triple play' service providers.
Sony's LocationFree software works in much the same way. The LocationFree Base Station (£229) works in conjunction with the LocationFree Player, which can either be downloaded to the phone or bundled on a Memory Stick.
"LocationFree completely removes the constraints of having to be at home to enjoy your favourite programmes," said Steve Walker, VP of product marketing at Sony Ericsson. "The P990, with its large 2.8 inch touchscreen is the perfect device for this. It is a high performance smartphone that gives a really great viewing experience, coupled with high-speed connectivity."
Blake Krikorian, co-founder and CEO of Sling Media, said: "People love their living room TV programming and simply want the ability to watch it on any device wherever they happen to be, whether at work on their PC, around the home on their wireless laptop, or on the go via their mobile phone."
Some TV programs in Australia may have a bigger audience on mobile phones than on pay TV services as early as the end of this year…"We've got tremendous distribution now through 3G phones," said Managing director of MTV Australia Dave Sibley. "By the end of the year the same number of people will be viewing on mobile phones as we have watching on TV." This is largely due to the relatively low penetration of pay TV in Australia -- 1.71 million homes, out of a population of just over 20 million (obviously homes often have more than one person in them, but mobile penetration is close or past 100%). So MTV "had no programs with more than 20,000 viewers in last week's national ratings…(and) no program on pay TV had a national audience of 100,000, while the rugby league final on Channel Nine had more than 2.5 million viewers". The view of the pay TV industry is that mobile TV will allow the channels to expand, which makes sense, especially for niche channels like MTV which will be able to sell directly to its target audience.
Orange CEO Sanjiv Ahuja did his best to convince his audience that mobile is fantastic new (ish) channel for content producers to reach their audience. – There was a lot of "bigging up" of Orange's achievements, as you'd expect: first operator to sell music downloads 2.5 years ago, selling more than 100,000 tracks a month, offered the first European mobile TV offering in Romania, first to offer blogging via phones, 110,000 blogs created by Orange customers as of last month. I have to say that as a customer, you'd never really notice any of those features unless you drilled down into your phone menu/instruction book/Orange website. More stats: Orange's DVBH trials tripled the average length of mobile TV, up to 8/9/10 minutes; and he repeated the forecast of at least 124.8 million regular global mobile TV viewers by 2010 and a total potential global audience of two billion. Ahuja wouldn't indicate Orange's revenue from mobile TV: "It is small but growing nicely." – Orange France now has 300,000 active users and August was a record month recording five million user sessions. Ahuja said Orange encouraged take up through a combination of attractive packages like unlimited weekend TV for 10 Euros a month, offering a mix of 50 linear and VOD channels and making services accessible within a couple of clicks. "If we're honest, none of us want to spend 90 minutes watching a movie or soccer match on a two-inch screen, particularly if you could watch at home on your TV or on the internet," he said. I sometimes feel like the only person on the planet that doesn't watch Desperate Housewives and Lost. Anyway, I can also not watch Desperate Housewives as four minute 'story-so-far' clips and two-minute previews on Orange. Ahuja said those kind of formats don't replace watching the TV show but supplement it, although I think those two examples are really just trailers. In France, the Plus Belle La Vie series has shown on TV and mobile since 2005. The show has 6 million viewers on TV, so that's another example of a strong brand but here the service was an alternative way of watching the show offering each episode in three eight-minute chunks. Orange was the first operator to offer a simultaneous multi-platform transmission, he said. - Appealing to content producers, he said: "We need great stories and properties we can package in different forms. We want you to concentrate on what you do best and that's creating content, capturing people's imaginations and storytelling. As an industry, we will concentrate on delivering the best possible experience of your product to our mutual customers. We'll tailor it for different formats using our knowledge of the customer and work to find the right revenue model." - That's yet another consistent theme in all these debates - experimentation is essential because this is a new format and no-one has the perfect model. But as one person from an operator told me, mobile TV really isn't that new - it has been around for ages but still hasn't taken off. Content companies seem to blame the technology and interoperability issues, and distributors seem to say there's a lack of good, relevant mobile content. That's maybe a bit harsh, but the technology keeps getting the blame for the slow uptake of all these services. "These are early days and everything we do is an experiment. We have to learn how best to package content for different platforms." - Lastly, on Google/YouTube: "It's wonderful that Google bought YouTube. It's a different business model for them. They've been in the search business, not the content business." I'm not sure some of the news industry would agree with that… Disclaimer: Orange has been a sponsor of MocoNews.net.
