• by David Kaplan , January 25, 2005

As if you didn't know what else to do with your cell phone: now welcome to the world of the "Mobisode," as Twentieth Television, News Corp.'s syndicated and cable production arm, and Verizon Wireless have entered into an agreement to bring two direct-to-mobile series to mobile communications devices.

The announcement was jointly made today by Bob Cook, president and COO of Twentieth Television; Lucy Hood, senior vice president, content and marketing, of News Corporation; and John Stratton, vice president and chief marketing officer at Verizon Wireless.

Under terms of the agreement, Twentieth Television will produce one-minute original "mobisodes" of the serial dramas "Love and Hate" and "The Sunset Hotel" (26 mobisodes of each series, for a total of 52) designed specifically for "V CAST," the new 3G multimedia wireless service from Verizon Wireless, and Vodafone's 3G Live!.

Also, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone will distribute the serialized, live-action series to V CAST and Live! customers.

Twentieth Television is also producing a dedicated promotional spot for each series, as well as an additional "mobisode" regarding the making of "The Sunset Hotel."

"We feel that the production of these serialized soap operas is a unique way to further bolster Verizon Wireless' and Vodafone's strong product offerings to global markets while creating a value proposition and additional revenue streams for all parties involved," Twentieth's Cook said in a statement.

Verizon Wireless' Stratton added: "Mobile video is an exciting new medium that brings new opportunity and growth to programming companies--our relationship with Twentieth Television leverages the broad distribution channels that Verizon Wireless and Vodafone jointly bring to the table."

News Corp. has been very bullish on the mobile entertainment concept, and is already working on a mobisode series inspired by the Fox show "24."

Now if only they would do a series inspired by "The Sopranos"--that would truly be a mobisode.