Editor's Corner

Live CTIA Wireless 2007 Coverage Sponsored by

As president and CEO of Viacom, Philippe Dauman oversees a multimedia empire that towers as the world's leading provider of video content and includes "South Park," easily one of the two or three greatest creations in the history of humankind. In other words, respect his authori-tie. And given his association with potty-mouthed 10-year-olds, I believe him when he says that kids are the future of the mobile content industry. "The cellphone market is aging down," Dauman told the crowd assembled for this morning's CTIA Wireless 2007 keynote address. "Kids see mobile phones as the holy grail--it is now the number one electronic device. And parents are willing to pay substantial money for handsets."

Dauman was here to announce Viacom's deal with MVNO Amp'd Mobile to launch an exclusive "SpongeBob SquarePants" mobile channel in the second quarter, as well as an expanded partnership with Sprint that will result in 14 different live streaming and video-on-demand channels featuring Viacom content from MTV, VH1 and Comedy Central. Further signaling Viacom's growing focus on wireless, Dauman additionally announced plans to integrate mobile advertising into the mix, signing Pepsi and Intel as charter sponsors.

"The objective is to be everywhere our audience is," Dauman said. "Our brands are already everywhere on the planet, producing local content that resonates with local audiences. We are experts at finding out and delivering on what our audiences want. For young people, getting a mobile phone is a rite of passage--it's part of who they are and integral to their self-esteem."
 
But like so many of the speeches and pitches I've heard at CTIA Wireless 2007, Dauman's keynote was long on hopes and projections and short on ideas on how to make the market projections a reality. Everyone here talks about the promise of mobile content, but no one seems to know how to actually get there. It's time for the mobile content industry to borrow a page from the glory days of FM radio: Less talk, more rock. -Jason