College Sports TV last weekend started streaming live footage of basketball games to SmartVideo video-enabled mobile devices.
Ads broadcast on College Sports TV's ads will remain intact on
cell phones. SmartVideo, which charges a subscription fee for video delivery, is not displaying any extra ads.
The move came within days of the launch of College Sports TV's broadband network,
which offers subscribers the opportunity to view games on the Web that aren't shown on cable.
College Sports TV's CEO Brian Bedol said the decision to stream to mobile devices is part of the
company's overall plan to increase the number of channels by which its programming is delivered. "Our strategy is to use a multitude of platforms to bring our sports fans closer to their passions," he
said. "As we look at our business, it's really about being part of this transition to the mass media experience." The goal of bringing the games that aren't aired to mobile and broadband, Bedol said,
is to allow college sports fans to follow their schools without "relying on what's scheduled for Tuesday at seven."
SmartVideo has also collected a number of content partnerships, including
comedy shorts from Fun Little Movies, news from ABC News, The Weather Channel, CNBC, and MSNBC, and programming from ABC, E!, iFILM, and DIC Entertainment.