CTIA: NBCU expands ad-driven mobile presence
NBC Universal today announced plans to build its mobile presence through partnerships with Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Research In Motion to carry NBCU’s ad-supported mobile web sites. With brands like NBC, Universal Pictures, USA Networks, Bravo and others, consumers will get direct access to more than 60 WAP sites on their handsets. These partnerships announced today at Mobile Entertainment Live in Las Vegas, expand upon its existing relationship with Alltel Wireless, announced in July of last year.
The sites, given visibility on Verizon, AT&T and BlackBerry’s application Web sites, will be distributed directly onto the respective operators’ menus, accessible via genre-specific folders. Mobile search and advertising provider JumpTap will continue to provide the ad network for delivering ads to a number of the NBCU sites. Additional ad opportunities will come in the form of ad-supported interactive SMS voting, fan clubs and alerts from specific sites. NBCU will also introduce Send to Mobile, which directly integrates mobile websites and interactive SMS campaigns featuring cast blogs, ringtones and video clips with interactive SMS campaigns.
In the past, NBCU CEO Jeff Zucker has said that carrier’s reluctance to award content companies any significant revenue prodies little incentive for NBCU to devote much attention to the mobile platform. He said the company is only playing in the mobile world in a small way. While carriers still aren’t particularly willing to share their revenues, today’s announcement shows NBCU recognizes the growing importance of mobility and the viability of an ad-supported platform.
Vendors and carriers have long been talking about the potential of ad-based mobile services as a revenue generator and way to cut consumer costs while raising their revenues, but we are just now starting to see any real initiatives take place. Privacy issues and SPAM concerns have slowed the progess of a lot of mobile advertising, especially when it comes to location. Most mobile ad attempts center on SMS ads pushed to the user or banner ads during Web searches. NBCU sounds like they will excectute both strategies, combining the world of PC-ads, TV-content and the interaction that mobility offers.
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