[by Jemima Kiss] Channel 4 launched its own mobile channel on the back of Big Brother in May 2005 with ringtones, wallpapers and so on, but also launched its mobile TV site in November 2005 with full-length programmes. C4 obviously changed its mind though because it re-launched the service last week with five-minute clips of shows including Hollyoaks, Lost and Desperate Housewives. The core C4 audience is in the 16-34 age group but that’s also the audience most likely to migrate to mobile and online, so the channel wants to be “ubiquitous across all platforms”, said Paul Whitehead. C4 is the only commercial broadcaster in the UK with a public service remit and its content strategy is three pronged: distributing C4 content on new digital platforms, adapting existing content for mobile (Hollyoaks has an exclusive mobile story running concurrently, for example) and commissioning standalone content.
-- BSkyB’s Stephen Nuttall said more than 100,000 people have signed up for Sky Mobile TV (run with Vodafone) and they streamed 70,000 clips in the first three months, although he said neither Sky or Vodafone wouold give more detail on user numbers yet. Sky offers two mobile TV packages; news, sports and factual with content from channels including Sky News, Bloomberg and National Geographic, and an entertainment package which features Sky One, Living TV and the Discovery Channel amongst others. Both are £5 per month for unlimited viewing - and that reflects comment from various other speakers that subscriptions are much more attractive to users than pay per view. In the next few weeks subscribers will also be able to access the Sky Guide through the service.
-- MTV‘s is exploiting its strong brands like Pimp my Ride, Jackass, Dirty Sanchez and Sponge Bob Squarepants. Angel Gambino said MTV’s mobile TV doesn’t compete with ‘real’ TV because it’s a very different kind of audience behaviour: “Users come in for two or three minutes at several points during the day when they are commuting, queuing etc. It’s a healthy mix of existing TV content re-edited for the small screen, DVD extras and exclusive mobile content.” She said MTV Mobile TV is making money and that, again, subscription payment has been far more popular with users than pay-as-you-go - which it sounds like they will ditch.