• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, September 13, 2006

Sprint is mounting an ambitious mobile video venture featuring sports and entertainment news originating from its own specially designed studio.

Subscribers to Sprint's mobile data service will be able to access a lineup of short videos updated daily or weekly and available on demand. The Sprint "Power View" network will kick off with seven shows covering the NFL, entertainment news and gossip, and New York's Fashion Week, among other topics.

Sprint data subscribers who haven't already signed up for one of the company's premium mobile TV packages can watch the shows by downloading a Java application to compatible handsets or devices for free.

To help give its shows a professional air, Sprint has tapped network TV and radio talent as program hosts, including Fox Sports' James Brown, Fox Soccer Channel's Ryan McDonough and CBS tennis analyst Jim Courier.

Sprint, which is partnering in the initiative with IMG Media, will also rely on 15 mobile camera crews to provide coverage of events in major markets around the country.

The wireless giant already offers mobile TV programming from media outlets ABC News, CNN, Fox Sports and ESPN. But through its original programming, Sprint aims to offer media that is specially tailored to the limitations of a wireless connection and small screen.

"A lot of the time re-purposed content doesn't translate very well to mobile," said Sprint spokesman Dave DeVries. To that end, Sprint has designed its studio and graphics to suit the mobile platform. Hosts have even been instructed to speak a bit slower than usual to better accommodate any disruptions in data transmissions.

Sprint first experimented with original programming earlier this year when it provided daily coverage of the NCAA basketball tournament hosted by CBS Sports' Bonnie Bernstein. DeVries said Sprint was pleased with the consumer response and encouraged enough to expand its original programming farther.

A key goal of the initiative is to introduce customers to mobile TV and get them hooked. "Hopefully we can get them to give it a try and reduce churn among our customer base," said DeVries.

More than 3.7 million consumers subscribed to mobile TV in the second quarter--up 45 percent from the first three months of the year, according to a report issued this week by research and consulting firm Telephia. Mobile TV revenue also soared to $85 million in the second quarter, marking a 67 percent jump from the first. But the subscriber and revenue numbers still only represent a fraction of the overall wireless market.

For now, advertising Sprint is pursuing will be limited to corporate logos that appear before and after shows, similar to Chase's sponsorship of Sprint's NCAA coverage.