Hollywood is Willing, but the Advertisers are Weak

The New York Times has a comprehensive look at the state of mobile media today, with a focus on television shows and “mobisodes.” One example given is the recent batch of six miniature Smallville Legends episodes on Sprint’s network.

There’s a surprising amount of made-for-mobile content in the works, though the problem seems to be developing the correct business model for it. Hollywood is chomping at the bit to make it, and the studios are game, but not unless the advertisers are willing to jump in.

There’s a perception (and rightly so, in our opinion) that consumers are more likely to treat their cellphones the way they treat the desktop Internet — view content for free, but with ads, rather than purchasing shows on an individual or subscriber basis.

The usual money quote comes at the end: “I think everyone is trying to figure it out and decide how to deal with it,” said Zack Van Amburg, a co-president with Mr. Erlicht at Sony Pictures Television, in the article. “For now we are all in a ‘Let’s embrace it and it’s here’ mode. No one has the answer yet.”

Hollywood Loves the Tiny Screen. Advertisers Don’t. [NYT]

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