ITV to launch news bulletins for mobiles

by Andrew McCormick, Media Week 24-May-07, 13:31

LONDON - ITV is seeking to cash in on the 9m viewers that watch its news shows every day by launching paid-for bulletins on mobile. The broadcaster is charging mobile users £2 per week for twice daily news briefings.

The two minute shows will be presented by ITV News hosts Mary Nightingale and Mark Austin and will be produced by ITN. ITV has created a shortcode, 88333, for people to text ‘Fix' to, in order to sign-up for the service.

The launch is part of ITV's wider strategy to invest in mobile content. The broadcaster has plans to create made-for-mobile content and is considering streaming its channels on mobile.

Last week a report published by Continental Research forecast that only 6% of UK adults will watch TV on their mobiles in 2010, casting doubt on the potential of mobile TV.