• Ad Age, Friday, April 7, 2006 11:30 AM

Speaking before an industry group in Las Vegas this week, MTV Networks Music president Van Toffler said his company and others are focused on the mobile phone as the next great opportunity.  “The mobile handset is the holy grail of electronic devices,” he said. While global youth spend $16 billion on music, they spend $106 billion on mobile. Teens rank it more desirable than laptop computers, MP3 players, and video-game consoles. And for mighty MTV, the tiny mobile screens suggest an earlier era, when MTV was new and offered something no one else did.  Reports Ad Age:  "The short-form nature of wireless, Mr. Toffler said, allows MTV to 'go back to our A.D.D. roots to deliver content that we grew up on,'such as music videos and 'sharts,' an MTV phrase for short-form animated and live-action video that tells a story in five- to 15-second art breaks. He talked about using wireless to extend TV programs and brands, to air unique made-for mobile programming, and find new revenues in the music industry."

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