MTV, Warner Music to Bring Music Videos to Cell Phones

By Harry Berkowitz, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.

Sep. 27–MTV is shrinking its music video prowess to cell-phone size, and Warner Music is going along for the ride, the two announced yesterday.

Warner Music Group, whose musicians include Green Day, Sean Paul, Twista and Big & Rich, will provide music videos under the global agreement. MTV Networks will turn them into short programs, perhaps two to five minutes long, specifically for cell phones.

Some short videos will be offshoots of such TV programs as “Driven” and “You Ought Know” on VH1, or of broadband programming. And there will be cell-phone-only programs such as “The Dingo Ate My Baby,” featuring a supposed dingo and baby hosting a video show, and “Earth to Video,” with two aliens trying to interpret videos.

“We’re highly focused on being on every screen that our audiences care about and use the most, and wireless is certainly in the forefront around the world,” MTV Networks chief executive Judy McGrath said in a phone press conference.

Consumers may pay subscription fees or a fee per video. “We don’t know right now which is the best,” said Bill Roedy, president of MTV Networks International, adding that MTV is experimenting with various business models.

In the United States, MTV Networks, which is part of Viacom, has deals with Verizon Wireless and Sprint to offer the cell-phone programming. MTV Networks operates in 166 countries around the world.

MTV expects to strike more deals with other music labels, executives said.

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