Tiny, tiny TV

LAS VEGAS--Welcome to the new hype. It's not just wireless data. It's not wireless multimedia. It's called wireless TV, and there are enough people excited about it that there's now a whole one-day conference devoted to the topic.

The National Association of Television Program Executives held a day-long event rife with panels and executive keynotes and networking sessions, all addressing the idea of how to get people to watch television over their handsets. A lot of the ideas that made their way to speeches seemed to lie in the pipe dream category--Sony Entertainment's view is that one day whole movies will be downloaded to handsets, either to be viewed immediately or transferred to the nearest monitor. But there were also some rather neat-o ideas bandied about. The same Sony executive proposed the idea of the video tone or video wall paper, which plays your favorite movie clip--his example was the "show me the money" bit from Jerry McGuire--when your phone rings or you interact with it in any other way.

But for the most part, a lot people seemed set on the idea that the phone could be used as a sort as a mini-television. While they may have some cause to think that way--since the only mildly successful video streaming service to date has been MobiTV's handheld broadcast TV service--it seems that the entertainment industry might be grasping at air here. It's not that breakaway MobiTV's service is the next killer app. It's that all other video streaming services tend to suck. The tired old repurposing of old content for the mobile phone over a slow connection for a hefty charge isn't really peaking people's imaginations. People have been saying "sports clips!" for years, but no one seems to be watching the multitude of sports clips services out there. Basically if the mobile content developers can't come out with something better than, or even on par with, actual TV programming, why not just go for the real thing? That's hardly a business model to bank on.

There's a bit of hope coming from some programming circles, though. On Monday, Twentieth Television, A News Corp. subsidiary, announced it would be creating two television shows--one a reality show and the other a drama--exclusively for mobile devices. Called "mobisodes," they're the perfect sized--one minute in length--for mobile consumption, and for now they're being created exclusively over Verizon Wireless' VCast and Vodafone 3G Live platforms. In addition, News Corp is going to launch a spin-off of sorts based on its popular 24 television series, also exclusive to wireless devices.

I'm not saying this is revolutionary thinking, but at least it's better thinking than just tossing The OC onto a mobile phone. And who knows? Cable's Sopranos revolution made HBO a must-have for a lot of cable-indifferent people. Maybe Twentieth's Love and Hater will do the same for high-speed data.

Contact me at kfitchard@primediabusiness.com.