Hollywood Players in Mobile Marriage

NEW YORK The latest Hollywood marriage is between two branded entertainment companies seeking to develop sponsored programs for mobile consumers worldwide.

Meteor Worldwide is launching a mobile content delivery company and a programming partnership with reality producer Reveille. Called Pliq (a name chosen in a competition), the new service will launch next year, according to Meteor managing partners Dieter Abt and Ben Blanco. Sanjay Pothen has been named Pliq CEO.

Reveille's maiden foray into mobile distribution will allow it to reach "audiences around the world," said Reveille CEO Ben Silverman, who will serve on Pliq's board. In addition to repurposing shows like The Restaurant, $25 Million Hoax, Meet Mr. Mom, The Club, House Wars and Adrenaline X, Reveille will create original branded content for the wireless distributor.

Meteor's in-house production unit, White Flower, will help Reveille on "development and production of mobisodes," said Abt. Currently the White Flower slate has 10 scripted small-screen series "incorporating user-generated content and text messages," added Blanco.

The ad model for Pliq programming will include both 15-second interstitials (before, during or after editorial content) and brand-sponsored or brand-integrated series, explained Blanco. Meteor, which this summer inked a deal with Havas branded-content shop B6, has been exploring mobile projects with agency clients like Nike and Dannon.

Volkswagen, Meteor's original client, is also in discussions about mobile properties.

Other Pliq tasks include matching brands with Hollywood properties—especially those of Meteor partner Universal Studios—and disseminating the brand-integrated content via marketing campaigns and White Flower's "Pliq Flick" series.

Domestic advertising on mobile devices (not including branded or sponsored content) amounted to $45 million last year and is expected to reach $1.3 billion by 2011, per Ovum. Yet the Boston researcher's SVP of U.S. consumer practice, Mary Ann O'Loughlin, cautioned that "it's very complex to understand what the [media] ecosystem will look like ... and it's still very, very early to tell."

"Forward-thinking" companies will include mobile in their 2007 media plans," though allocating only 1-2 percent of their budgets, O'Loughlin said.

It's not a stretch that branded content will take off on tiny screens, argued O'Loughlin. Noting that the market is "moving to an advertiser-funded model" where content is subsidized, she said branded series "made specifically for mobile consumption are compelling applications" where the use of advertising is "subtle."

(c) ADWEEK

Mobile TV - Is it the future?

(c) Digital Spy

Mobile TV is part of the multi-platform 'pie' that all broadcasters currently seem to want a slice of. With new content deals between television and telecommunications companies now agreed every week, the opportunity to watch your favourite show on the move is becoming more of a possibility. But do people really want to watch the next episode of Eastenders on the train, on such a small screen? Do they even realise they can? Joanne Oatts looks at the realities of mobile TV.

In the past few months we've seen several major content providers - Buena Vista and Disney, ITN, BBC and Channel 4 to name but a few - sign up with the major mobile companies to allow them to broadcast their content across a mobile platform. As the variety of content grows, the mobile firms are hoping that the uptake of watching TV on mobiles, as well as the other services 3G can offer, will increase. But it’s a slow process, and many in the industry have major concerns about where it's all heading. They believe that while mobile will certainly be an important platform for the future, spending your entire content budget on full episodes of shows that are never going to be watched by the average mobile user is not a great business model.

In Japan and South Korea, where mobile television usage is at its highest, the reality has been around for over a year - and most of the population has already signed up to watch the country's main channels on their mobiles. That's fine over there, but can we really see our crowded trains, already polluted with the noise of music-playing phones and other handheld devices, being a place for catching up with X-Factor?

Nicholas Wheeler, managing director of mobile news channel ITN On, says you have to think of your audience. "We're not engaging with the 'old TV consumer' anymore, the guy who sits in front of the telly passively absorbing whatever's on the box. We're engaging with a younger 'communication' focused audience," he said, speaking at the recent Next Gen TV conference. "They are the 'i-pod' generation: In control, confident with technology - they take a bit of everything and soon as they don't like it, they go off and find something else."

"They're smart and they're social, and this whole revolution is about communicating more with each other. They want flexible ways to pay, and be able to download and pay for it on their mobile phone. Broadcasting (shows) is not enough, contact and engagement is a better way of looking at it, and obviously you can do that with great content," he added.

Geoffrey Ellis, senior vice president of development and distribution, Walt Disney Television EMEA, owners of the Disney Channel, agrees: "It is Disney channel's audience that will determine the new channels of the future. What we as TV executives call 'new media', kids don't call anything at all. Kids are very comfortable in this world, frequently consuming four or five things at once. Have we really thought about the impact that this competition for kids' attention has on our businesses or on our business models? If we're honest, nobody's really certain of what some of these businesses will be."

Disney has recently announced a nine-country deal to make full and half episodes available on mobile in those countries as part of a satellite subscription fee. "There is no advertising deal, we're looking for uptake. Not too big on insights - we've only just launched, but there are a surprising number of kids who do watch on the go, on their mobile phones. When you excite your audience and get the 'playground' chat going, then it’s an additive experience. It's not something that's undermining our main business, quite the opposite."

The BBC is also spending a lot on multi-platform. An extra £35 million from the corporation's "Big Idea" fund is going towards pushing content across its non-linear platforms, plus it already has a number of content deals with mobile providers. But Tim Davie, BBC director of marketing & communications and the audiences division, believes that watching whole channels on mobile, like in Japan, is a long way off. "Looking at the ratings, on average 60% of the UK is watching BBC or ITV on a weekday evening, and that figure goes up to 70% at the weekend, so we're a long way off from moving completely away from linear viewing," he said.

So when 3G uptake does take off, where are we going to be watching this? Travelling seems to be the main environment, but head of TV and video at Orange, Deborah Tonroe, says it will be more widespread than that: "Anywhere where you're bored basically. We do get quite a lot of at home viewers, which is surprising. But it is generally when you're mobile. "At work" was quite a high proportion in our research. If you work in a factory and you get a 15-minute break and you don't smoke, what do you do? You look at your mobile," she said.

So what are we going to be able to watch? Mike Shaw, ABC's president of sales and marketing, thinks it has to be appropriate content, both in time and quality. The US network currently offers "mobi-sodes" of 3.5 minutes on its mobile platforms, "That seems to be the model we're in, it is an extension of our other services, it’s a great promotional platform, and you can catch up with the highlights of your favourite show," he said.

Research in the US found that sport was top for mobile content usage, with entertainment, news and humour making up the top four. ITN On's Nicholas Wheeler says that to make it engaging, the content has got to be worthwhile: "This whole mobile and entertainment area has to reach out beyond girls, game and gambling, and take on things which are genuinely useful and interesting. News, sport and weather have a very good part to play in the mobile environment."

ITN On is a made-for-mobile TV station with an average viewing time of 7 minutes. Viewers watch a 15-minute news reel, with live content at certain times of the day. One journalist operates the channel, producing and editing the content and then putting it into reel for the next time it comes round. The station has larger-than-normal on screen text for each story, so you can understand the story, even if you're in a noisy environment. The station already has relationships with the main mobile operators, and has deals with ITV news, Channel 4 news, Google, BT Yahoo! and MSN. The Telegraph has even signed up to stream ITN On through its website to provide a video news service.

Wheeler believes that while mobile is a young person's format, he doesn’t agree that that's the only audience. "Informative useful content is perhaps winning through in what is seen as a very young persons thing, but I don't totally agree that its just 18-24, certainly from our information 24-44 is a very key market, and they are actively downloading and looking at this content as well," he said. He also thinks cost may play a part: "When you think about it, they're the people who can afford the Smart phones and the cost of looking at content as well. The younger people are looking at it too, but there is quite a breadth of interest in what is going on."

But why aren't more people taking up the services, if there is such a variety of content? "Perhaps it's that we haven't yet created something they want to engage with, or that perhaps they don't actually know what their phone can do, which is probably a more common occurrence," he said. "But even if they do know, maybe the parts they need are too difficult to find, and there's certainly a big marketing job that needs to be done in terms of making that clear and available."

Going forward, the main interest for the mobile operators is whether mobile TV generates revenue. Most of the services in the UK are via a pay-per-view or monthly or daily subscription, but to increase uptake and alleviate fears around the services catching people out and charging them over the odds, what about making it free through an advertising model?

ABC's Shaw says those opportunities are unclear: "We haven't figured out an ad model. We don't know whether watching ads on your phone, like in iTunes, is really a business at this point in time. Whether we get to the point where we show full episodes with ads is really up in the air."

But Wheeler is more positive about the idea. "We certainly feel that the advertising money, which is clearly going out of television at a fast rate, is definitely ripe to move into mobile in the next year or so. It’s a fantastic advertising medium. It’s a personal medium, one to one, and it's targeted. There's an awful lot of information that could be given to an advertiser, should that be possible. It’s a fantastic advertising tool and we need advertisers to understand that."

Although he does understand that no advertiser is going to put its name to a service that is, at times, unreliable. "The customer experience needs to improve. It's got to work every time, and it's got to look as good as TV. You want to be able to switch channels, the sort of things you would expect from a television service, including EPG. Advertising money is ripe for something new and we think mobile can provide that. The on-demand market is already a £650 million market. That is a big market."

While some detractors dismiss the emergence of mobile TV, there are clearly some companies out there who are making a success of the medium with relevant, appropriately packaged and editorialised content. An understanding of the medium is key, but it's clear from all those who spoke at the Next Gen TV conference that while each of them searches for a business model to "follow", there is so much about new media that is still unknown. Who knew YouTube or MySpace would be so successful? Jeremy Wagstaff of The Wall Street Journal Asia puts it like this: "A few years ago, if someone had told us we would be able to pack a phone, an address book, a half-decent camera, access to email and the internet, a music player and a video camera into a device the size of a Snickers bar, we would have been excited and sceptical in equal measure."

Wheeler says the best way to learn is just to get out there. "I think its important to get it out there, make the mistakes now, find out what its all about and move forward when the 3G handsets become more prevalent," he said. "You've got to be in it to win it."

Technorati tags: mobile TV

When the movie theater fits in your hand

Hand-held devices carry libraries of music and movies - but at the cost of audio quality and picture size. Can the trade-off gap be narrowed?

(c) Christian Science Monitor

From the dawn of modern movies, the big screen has provided filmmakers with the canvas they've needed to create epic, visionary tales set against large, sweeping landscapes - think D.W. Griffith or Peter Jackson. But in the new digital era, the cinematic experience no longer dominates popular entertainment, even though it is still one of its primary drivers.

Increasingly, audiences are using their visual media to fit their lifestyles, whether at home or on the move, sacrificing screen size for the ease of access and portability. Computers, cellphones, Game Boys, even grocery checkout screens are all being pressed into service as entertainment venues. But, while quality content is still king, one size doesn't fit all. (Just try watching "Star Wars" in the palm of your hand - can you even find Yoda?) As the novelty of watching anything and everything on smaller devices wears off, the media revolution is spurring filmmakers, studios, and viewers alike to ask themselves what role screen size plays in delivering the best value for the entertainment dollar. Answer: Each size requires, and is increasingly inspiring, uniquely tailored material.

The challenge is inspiring Hollywood, where A-listers such as small-screen producer Steven Bochco ("NYPD Blue," "Hill Street Blues") and film star Morgan Freeman have both recently announced partnerships to create material for new media (cellphones and websites). New short-form narratives from Mr. Bochco are scheduled to appear on the Metacafe website as early as January.

Expect more of the same from the creative community, says Frank Chindamo, president and chief creative officer of FunLittleMovies.com, which is based in Burbank, Calif. Every technological leap has been matched by a new form of storytelling, he adds. Cinema was the first form of filmed entertainment. Then TV arrived and that meant that the TV show had to be invented, observes Mr. Chindamo. This new, more intimate form was a hybrid of theater, vaudeville, music, and radio. "Now there are whole new forms of entertainment on the Internet and mobiles and they're still figuring that out," he adds.

Determining the right kind of entertainment for a given screen size is like assessing real estate, says Michael Krupat, vice president, Television Group for City Lights Media Group. It's all about location. Where and when is the content being watched?

Mr. Krupat's firm creates content for virtually every platform, from theatrical films to television, computers to cellphones. "We have to be very careful," he says. "We have to think about size because each screen requires that you do things differently."

He points to his firm's recent mobile phone series, "Dingo Ate My Video," starring puppet versions of a dingo and a baby. "We had three inches to work with, so we couldn't have too much detail or movement," he says. "If you start doing more, like with three or four characters, then you begin to lose detail."

Creating content for so many different screen sizes is not as simple as reducing the amount of detail or size of the landscape. "Screen size matters," says DP Venkatesh, CEO of mPortal. "But not just because there are optimal sizes for different stories. You have different sizes because there are different uses."

Comedy tends to work well on small screens, says Chindamo. Viewers can consume it in short bites, with a low attention span, perfect for highly mobile, distracted consumers waiting in a bank line or even at a red light. "When size goes down, what comes up is accessibility. What we have also found is that as size goes down, so does attention," adds Chindamo.

As screen options multiply, even filmmakers committed to the big-screen experience are finding they must play to their strengths to survive. The eight-story high IMAX screen came onto the scene in 1973. It remained a venue for nature and educational films until five years ago when the company decided to capitalize on its size and began partnering with Hollywood to present feature films. Tom Hanks retooled "Apollo 13" for the big screen, as did Robert Zemeckis with "The Polar Express." Now audiences can see current films such as this season's hit, "Happy Feet," on a towering screen, some 4,500 times the size of an average TV screen.

IMAX executives are betting that the IMAX format can lure otherwise reluctant moviegoers with what they're calling its "cool factor." "We only like to work with visionary filmmakers who take us to places we'd like to go but can't get to easily, like the moon or the Batcave or Hogwarts," says Greg Foster, president of IMAX Filmed Entertainment.

He points to the roller-coaster effects that Zemeckis inserted into the IMAX version of "The Polar Express" as just one of the many unique assets IMAX can offer. "We're bringing in the incremental customers," says Mr. Foster. "These are people who are specifically seeking out the IMAX experience, which in turn drives box office and home-video rentals."

Families at a recent midday screening of "Happy Feet" at Los Angeles's Universal Plaza appear to agree. "We came because IMAX allows you to feel like you're really in the movie," says John Winters, who came with his wife and 2-year-old son. Screen size is critical, he says, adding that a movie made just for IMAX is unique. "You can't get that anywhere else. We paid $14 to get it, but it was worth it."