Will Bill Stone amp up MediaFLO?

At Amp’d Mobile, Bill Stone wasn’t able to realize his vision of creating a new type of mobile media company before bankruptcy got in the way. But he’s getting a second shot at Qualcomm. The mobile chipset giant has appointed Stone President of MediaFLO USA, Qualcomm’s quickly growing but still-struggling mobile TV arm, where he’ll have the benefit of more resources and much more solid financial backing.

Stone is replacing Gina Lombardi as Qualcomm senior vice president and FLO TV president on Feb. 2. Lombardi led MediaFLO from its inception three years ago, sealing Qualcomm’s two major distribution deals with AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless and building out coverage footprint encompassing 65 markets and 140 million people. Qualcomm said Lombardi is staying within the company pursuing other opportunities, though no specific post was named. Qualcomm Chief Operating Officer Len Lauer had nothing but praise for Lombardi, saying in a statement that she was instrumental in developing the FLO network and building carrier relationships. Stone will be leaving his current job as CEO of Handango, where he will be replaced by Handango’s content and international vice president Alex Bloom next month.

Before it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2007, Stone was president of Amp’d Mobile, a mobile virtual operator that shone brightly for its short life. Started by Boost Mobile founder Peter Adderton, Amp’d offered an innovative lineup of video, music and gaming content to the young and hip. The MVNO streamed live Ultimate Fighting Championship and motocross events and produced new short-form mobile TV programs, the most famous of which was Lil’ Bush, a series of cartoon shorts satirizing former President George W. Bush’s presidency and his closest advisers as children. Lil’ Bush was the first and, so far, only made-for-mobile content to migrate from the handset to network TV, debuting on Comedy Central in 2007.

Amp’d Mobile's growing success in the content space, however, couldn’t keep up with the rigors of running a full-fledged wireless operator business. Amp’d tried to evolve its business model from that of an MVNO to that of a media production and distribution company, selling its content to carriers in Japan and Canada, but its operational problems caught up. The MVNO’s back-end systems couldn’t keep up with growth, many of its 200,000 customers began defaulting in their bills, and Amp’d wasn’t able to pay its creditors.

As the new head of MediaFLO and presumably the chief architect of its FLO TV service, Stone isn’t likely to recreate the Amp’d video service on Qualcomm’s network. FLO is a much more mainstream service featuring programming from CNN, ESPN and most of the major networks, which, while perhaps targeted at the more tech-savvy, certainly is a much broader audience than the hipsters Amp’d focused on. But Stone may apply some of the concepts developed at Amp’d to MediaFLO. While FLO TV depends primarily on the major networks and media companies to deliver live TV feeds or repurposed content for its channel lineup, Stone may place more emphasis on programs produced directly for MediaFLO or seek to negotiate mobile TV rights and sponsor sporting non-traditional sporting events. Stone wasn’t available for an interview for this story, but in a statement issued by Qualcomm he promised to “help take FLO TV to the next level by building the brand, broadening distribution and working with Qualcomm’s partners to offer unique, compelling content.”