Sprint PCS continued to court pint-sized wireless users this week, unveiling a new mobile video channel featuring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety and other animated Warner Bros. characters.
“Looney Tunes and Friends,” which Sprint added to its portfolio of Vision offerings, delivers more than 20 three- to five-minute clips that will be updated weekly. The channel is offered to Vision subscribers at $5 a month and will also feature content from “The Flintstones,” “The Jetsons” and “Scooby-Doo.”
“The irreverent humor of these cartoons plays perfectly on mobile handsets, where people are looking for maximum entertainment value in short, intermittent periods of time,” said Jeff Hallock, Sprint’s vice president of wireless data product strategy.
Since launching mobile video services last August, Sprint has developed a 19-channel line-up of news, sports, weather and music. But operators are finding that some of the most popular mobile video offerings are targeted at youngsters and their parents. Sprint is already offering animated clips from CellToons, and Verizon has gained traction for its Vcast service with kid-focused video from Nickelodeon and “Sesame Street.” Such content can placate as well as entertain, according to a recent report from consultant firm IDC.
“I have offered my own Vcast phone and service to parents of young children at airports and on airplanes, with a near 100-percent success rate at tears and tantrum avoidance,” IDC Program Director Scott Ellison said recently. Ellison was touting “Bert and Ernie Go Wireless: The Emergence of the Cell Phone as a Wireless Babysitter,” which claims the industry is undervaluing content and services targeted at youngsters.
” ‘Electronic babysitting’ is a potentially strong value proposition for wireless video offerings to parents of very young children,” IDC said.