• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, August 3, 2009

Monthly video views across MSNBC's mobile properties have more than tripled in the four months since the network added video to its mobile offerings, according to video delivery Transpera. MSNBC's mobile video programming spans "Today," "NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams," "Meet the Press," "Dateline," and "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," among other shows.

It most recently released iPhone apps for msnbc.com as well as for "The Rachel Maddow Show" and "Today." The msnbc.com iPhone app launched last month in partnership with Zumobi lets users watch videos, read stories and use Twitter to share articles and track network news feeds.

Against MSNBC's mobile video content, Transpera offers ad options including 15-second pre-roll spots and companion display advertising.

In its most recent "Three Screen Report," Nielsen found that the estimated 13.4 million Americans who watch video on mobile phones view on average about 3.5 hours of mobile video each month -- more than the 3-hour average for Internet video.

Transpera also pointed to recent research from Insight Express indicating that among those who watch mobile video at least once a week, 58% get more of their news from the mobile phone than any other source. Mobile video is still confined to a small but dedicated minority of users, however.

A study from the Pew Research Center earlier this month found that the proportion of cell users who have ever used their phones to watch a video increased from 10% to 14% in the last two years. The share of people who do so on a typical day remained unchanged at just 3%.

Neither Transpera or MSNBC provided actual figures for video views or viewers across the network's mobile video properties.