Nov 18, 2008 2:09 PM,

MobUI connects VH1 viewers, celebs through mobile IM

By Sarah Reedy

MobUI hopes to capitalize on burgeoning mobile messaging market

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As mobile messaging remains a positive driver in wireless revenue growth, Viacom-owned VH1 and mobile application development company MobUI today launched VH1 Watch and Discuss Live chat in the AT&T Media Mall. The app, which connects VH1 viewers with on-air personalities like rapper-turned-reality-TV-star Flavor Flav, offers group instant messaging (IM) sessions, a form of mobile communication just beginning to take off.

According to a recent TNS Global Telecoms Insight survey, once mobile users adopt IM and chat, it overtakes SMS, MMS and email messaging tools as the primary non-voice method of interacting on the phone. The study found that 61% of respondents used mobile chat daily, compared to 55% who use SMS text messaging daily and 12% who use email on their mobile. Still, the service is only just being discovered. ABI Research found that 8% of mobile users, totaling 250 million worldwide, are using mobile IM today.

VH1 is banking on its robust online community, not existing mobile IM users, to drive the IM service. With a planned rollout on over 107 different phone models, Watch and Discuss is one of the largest interactive mobile projects ever developed for a broadcast audience, according to John Burry, founder and CEO of MobUI. The app builds on VH1’s online campaign, watchanddiscuss.com, designed to let users upload personal videos, comment on other videos and popular VH1 TV shows.

“Individuals who get engaged online with forums or the watchanddiscuss.com site find value in [interacting] and will definitely look at the mobile property as an opportunity to do that as well, in this case with active real-time chats,” Burry said.

The downloadable app lets viewers use their phone to chat in real time with other fans, or on-air talent, about the programming. The app includes a number of chat rooms tied to VH1's on-air schedule, user-defined terms, pop culture topics, celebrity hosts or friend lists. Through SMS, a send-to-a-friend function also lets users invite others to download the app and join a current chat.