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Sony films headed to mobile phones

Tom Warren   on 31 March 2008 - 11:48 · 6 comments & 4904 views

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Sony Pictures Television is looking to launch the first movie network on mobile phones in the United States.

The studio has signed a deal with AT&T and MediaFLO USA to launch the linear channel as one of two exclusive channels coming to the newly announced AT&T Mobile TV with FLO service in May.

The channel, to be known as PIX, will be stocked with such titles as "Ghostbusters," "Philadelphia" and "Stand by Me."

Mobile has been viewed mostly as a marketing platform for theatricals in the U.S. With the domestic mobile video category for even shortform clips lagging behind markets in Europe and Asia, Sony is looking to entice viewers with more diverse content offerings.

"What you see a lot on the carrier decks is promotional content that people can snack a little on," said Eric Berger, vp mobile entertainment at Sony Pictures Television. "There's nothing currently there as deeply entertaining as these movies."

Films have been made available on handsets on an on-demand basis. Sony was one of several studios that contributed titles to content aggregator MSpot, which teamed with Sprint to launch MSpot Movies in 2006.

View: Reuters

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(1 reply) #1 theyarecomingforyou on 31 Mar 2008 - 13:01
Pointless. The iPhone is the only phone that has a big enough screen to justify watching movies on but even then it will just sap battery life - the last thing you want on a mobile.
#1.1 ahhell on 31 Mar 2008 - 15:38
Uh...you do realize there are tons of other phones that have screens as large or larger than the iPhone.
#2 atari800 on 31 Mar 2008 - 16:04
Really? What phone has a bigger screen that iphone?
Out of all of my friends phones and mine too - the average screen is about the size of a large book of matches
I dont think I could watch a movie on it.
Well, maybe if I were stuck in a car for a long period of time with a charger but outside of that...I cant think of when I'd want to watch a movie on my phone.
"Hey honey, make a picnic basket and lets go to the park and watch Transformers on my phone"
I must be missing something here
#3 Magallanes on 31 Mar 2008 - 17:46
Today, a mp4 player is a inexpensive tools, so yes, it's pointless to put movies on cellphones. May be can worth with shortfilms (such youtube).
#4 atari800 on 31 Mar 2008 - 18:03
Yeah - and for those without some "all data included plan" - watching a movie on your phone may be pretty expensive
#5 toadeater on 01 Apr 2008 - 01:13
Buy a TV!

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