(8 March 2006 2:00 pm)

MUMBAI: MTV International is looking to grow the brand in Europe further through the mobile route. It has announced a deal with T-Mobile to deliver MTVNI’s diverse portfolio of entertainment brands to mobile TV subscribers across multiple European markets.

The deal, which sees MTVNI’s premier content being made available for the first time to T-Mobile subscribers for mobile TV in Germany and Austria and later in the UK, is a significant step forward in building the company’s European digital media offering.

T-Mobile subscribers in Germany and Austria can access the best and most exciting MTVNI content on mobile TV, including MTV Music and MTV Shorts. Nickelodeon animation shows including SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer are available now in Germany and from September in Austria. MTV Music is a back-to-back simulcast of a music video hits TV channel showing the best of all genres such as Coldplay, Gwen Stefani and 50 Cent.

And, MTV Shorts is a mobile TV channel of popular hit shows optimised for mobile, such as Punk’d and Dirty Sanchez, along with made-for-mobile programming such as Head & Body – an eight-mobisode comedy adventure.

In addition to these three channels, UK subscribers will soon be able to experience classic comedy stand up routines and clips from hit shows such as Becker on Paramount Comedy starting this summer. In the UK, MTV Shorts & MTV Music are known as MTV Snax & Trax, respectively.

MTVNI senior VP, digital media Gideon Bierer says, "This multi-market multi-brand strategic partnership gives T-Mobile subscribers access to the most diverse portfolio of entertainment brands available today on mobile TV. MTV Networks is uniquely positioned to help operators drive their mobile TV businesses by providing consumers with access to our world class brands on-the-go."

T-Mobile International VP mobile data Ingo Schneider says, “T-Mobile is committed to making mobile TV a successful and fulfilling service for our customers and we are very pleased to now offer the exciting content from MTV Networks International. T-Mobile is especially proud to be the mobile operator for MTVNI’s first multi-market and multi-brand mobile TV partnership in Europe”.

T-Mobile customers in Germany, Austria, Hungary and Slovakia can already enjoy the benefits of mobile TV on a range of about 10 3G devices in each market. The mobile TV service enables customers to access six TV genres including news, sport, music, comedy, youth and entertainment around the clock so they never miss their favourite TV series or the latest news when they are on the move.

T-Mobile provides customers with a range of options including a monthly subscription or integration into special tariff packages. The mobile TV service is currently being offered on a free trial basis until 31 March in Germany and Austria.

In addition to mobile video-on-demand, MTVNI currently offers 12 channels on mobile TV across Europe in 10 countries from its portfolio of brands including MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount Comedy and Game One. MTVNI’s expert digital production team, who ensures that the company’s high quality content offers users the ultimate viewing experience on handsets, programmes the new mobile TV channels.

In the US, IFILM is available to mobile TV subscribers, and the company recently announced the availability of IFILM on mobile TV to operators across Europe at 3GSM in Barcelona.

MTV has partnerships with 63 mobile operators globally, using its distinctive editorial voice to deliver a broad range of digital content, applications and services, including short video clips, games, ring tones, voice products on mobile, text alerts and interactive applications.

The company optimises its TV shows across its leading brands for digital platforms, creates new experiences based on its hit properties and develops original content for kid, youth and adult audiences. The company also enables audiences to become part of the creative process, facilitating the creation and distribution of user-generated content.