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So far, Springwise highlighted novels for the mobile phone (from Japan) and spotlighted Media Republic ‘s Jong Zuid, an interactive soap opera from The Netherlands, formatted especially for cell phones. Now Sprint is getting in on the action, too – they’ve teamed up with Cyber Oasis Corp, V-Star, and StewdioMedia Entertainment Group to present The Spot, an interactive reality TV show that follows the lives of Californian 20-somethings. The Spot originally aired on the Internet from 1995-1996 and was immensely popular; Sprint claims The Spot is the first drama series for wireless to use writers, actors and photographers the same way a television show would. Video content for cell phones is of course hot, hot, hot: Hotel Franklin, a soap presented in 60-second episodes for 3G phones, was recently announced at several trade shows by News Corp (the parent company of FoxTV), and similar ideas must be brewing all over Europe and Asia (Japan, South Korea!), too.

Opportunities

If you’re in media or telco, studying (or copying) The Spot is a no brainer: it’s yet another manifestation of new screens capturing coveted eyeballs: with hundreds of millions of PCs and laptops, and more than 1.35 billion cell phone users staring at mini screens on an almost hourly basis, the TV screen is NOT the only show in town anymore. And if you’re not part of the creative scene leading the mobile revolution, are you at least making sure your brand is showing up on the small screen, either as a sponsor or as strategically positioned product placements? Time to ask your ad agency some pointed questions!?