• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, January 9, 2007

At a MediaPostevent last spring, former WB network head Jed Petrick hinted about the future emphasis programmers would place on migrating their content to cell phones. "It's 1995 in the mobile space," he said, referring to the early stages of the mobile distribution arm in comparison to the infancy of the Internet. 1995 meet 2007.

2006 became the year content distribution on the Internet took center stage. 2007 looks to be the same for cell phones and mobile devices.

A deal between NBC and a division of Qualcomm (MediaFlo) will bring live, full episodes of NBC News programs, including "Today," "Nightly News" and "Meet the Press" to mobile phones in the coming months.

Also coming to the handheld devices are episodes of the Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien late-night shows and some undisclosed entertainment programs.

Word of the NBC deal came amid a flurry of announcements regarding TV on mobile in conjunction with the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. MediaFlo has similar deals to stream full-length programming with Viacom's MTV Networks, CBS and News Corp.'s Fox umbrella. Also, Verizon said it will launch a network called V Cast Mobile TV using the MediaFlo service.

NBC content will occupy two dedicated channels (one news and the other entertainment) on the MediaFlo service, which is distributed via agreements with wireless operators.

"We are very excited to offer a linear, high-quality, full-length content experience to an audience of engaged consumers on the go," says George Kliavkoff, chief digital officer at NBC Universal.

MediaFlo is in the early stages of an aggressive push to acquire rights to TV content to offer via its fledgling service. It also intends to give advertisers a way to stream spots within and around the programming.