Mobile TV drama begins to unfold

April 23, 2005 - source: BWCS

With mobile TV being touted as "the next big app" to hit handsets, Singapore mobile operator M1 has been airing previews of its made-for-mobile TV drama. The so-called 3G TV programmes have been developed by MediaCorp Studios, the Media Development Authority of Singapore and M1 and the trio hopes to sell them to other operators in the region.

With trials and commercial pilots of mobile TV services springing up in Finland, Luxembourg, Korea and the US, amongst other venues, mobile companies and TV content owners have been keen to meet up and talk terms. As Mr P Subramaniam, director of M1's sales and marketing department told Channel News Asia "What's more important here is the whole revolutionary concept behind this, how consumers look at it and take it up. And that's where it's going to get really exciting."

M1 and its partners plan to produce dramas with a specifically mobile version, which will be different to the regular TV episodes and will allow viewers the choice of watching a broadcast TV version or an extension of the same show on mobile.

The first drama to emerge from this collaboration, titled "PS I Love You", is due to appear on mobile phones in Singapore by June of this year. Despite some skepticism form analysts, mobile companies and TV content owners and producers are very keen to test the potential demand for this new outlet. It is widely expected that many more collaborations will emerge in this sector.