May 7, 2007
Hollywood Loves the Tiny Screen. Advertisers Don’t.
According to The New York Times, while short, multiepisode cellphone series are growing in popularity, the lucrative advertising dollars prevalent in other entertainment segments — and which studios rely on for profit — have been slow to migrate to the supersmall screen.
"In the two years since Fox Mobile and MTV Networks pioneered the market for cellphone programming, almost every major film and television studio is developing projects. But, for now, advertisers are reluctant to abandon traditional formats.
In 2006, $421 million was spent on mobile phone advertising, said a study by the market research firm eMarketer. By contrast, broadcast television advertising was estimated at $48 billion last year, according to the Universal McCann media agency.
... Alana Muller, director of wireless data marketing for Sprint, said companies are reluctant to sponsor ads because demand for video is still new. According to the Yankee Group, the number of mobile video viewers in the United States is about 5 million, 10 times more than in 2004 but still a small fraction of the 195 million mobile phone subscribers nationwide."
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