Endemol to launch two new mobile TV channels

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 21-Oct-05, 11:00

LONDON – Production giant Endemol is to widen its mobile TV content offering beyond 'Big Brother' with the launch of two new mobile-only channels.

Endemol has partnered with a number of mobile phone operators for its latest venture, names of which are yet to be revealed. It is creating a new division focused purely on mobile content.

The first channel will be the Extreme Reality Channel featuring weird and wacky entertainment clips, and the second a comedy channel.

The news was announced by Endemol chief executive Peter Bazalgette in a keynote mobile and cross-platform speech at Mipcom, the gathering of TV and audio-visual content buyers and suppliers in Cannes.

Bazalgette said that he believes demand for mobile content will be much greater than previous estimates.

"I'm convinced that the growth predictions we've seen will prove too low. I believe that the demand for mobile content will grow much faster than expected," he said.

According to Bazalgette, 'Big Brother' mobile viewers in the UK, Australia and Italy downloaded half a million clips and watched more than six million streamed minutes.

Earlier this week, mobile network 3 unveiled plans to become a media rather than a telecoms company, with the addition of seven established TV channels including ITN and Bravo.

The production company also launched new mobile-only channel 'See Me TV' allowing users to make their own clips available for download by other customers.

If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the Forum.