And the monkeys shall lead: ROK bets on Monkey-reading-news TV against others

As tier-one carriers vie to lure users with eye-catching video clips of hit TV shows and music stars, Patrick Kearney is hoping to draw mobile viewers with monkeys reading the news.
Monkey News Network, as it’s branded, is one of 20 “FreeBe TV” channels offered free to U.S. wireless users by the U.K.-based Rok Entertainment Group Ltd. True to its name, it features desk-bound monkeys with a voice-over offering updates from a wire service.
“It’s actually Reuters news in three- to five-minute segments that are updated every 15 minutes,” said Kearney, the VP of product development for Rok’s U.S. business. “I just kind of listen to it now; I don’t watch. But that’s all news is. Instead of Dan Rather reading it to me, it’s a monkey.”
The channel consistently ranks among the top three channels from Rok’s free, WAP-based wireless video service, which is available in a host of countries worldwide. Roughly 20,000 U.S. subscribers are tuning into FreeBe TV, Kearney said, while the United Kingdom accounts for another 6,000 viewers.
Rok developed a mobile media player and came to market three years ago with movies on memory cards for wireless viewing on Symbian-enabled devices. The company quickly built on the technology platform with a streaming video service, and has continued to expand with a place-shifting device dubbed the Rok Box.
The startup is privately funded-primarily by two individuals-and gained attention last summer when its premium streaming service outperformed two carrier-affiliated offerings in a study from Strategy Analytics. The off-deck, 2.5G service finished second only to Vodafone Live.
And as advertising creeps into mobile video, Rok may be well poised to take advantage. Unlike on-deck wireless video offerings, both Rok TV and FreeBe TV flow through Rok-owned NOCs-Network Operations Centers-allowing the company to track demographics and viewing habits. If those services continue to gain traction, such data could be highly prized by brands looking to deliver targeted marketing messages to specific groups of mobile users.
Perhaps Rok’s most ambitious effort, though, is a storefront designed to deliver mobile content to memory cards that can be played on mobile phones. The downloadable application offers traditional mobile content including ringtones and wallpapers as well as movies, TV clips and music videos designed for mobile viewing.
Rok will have an uphill fight this year as powerhouse networks like Qualcomm Inc.’s MediaFLO, Modeo L.L.C. and Aloha Networks’ HiWire come online. The new mobile broadcast companies not only will have cutting-edge equipment and prime-time deck placement, they will also boast high-profile content from network TV outlets and movie studios.
But Kearney plans to continue building Rok’s subscriber base, generating revenue from premium subscription services as it begins to place ads in FreeBe TV broadcasts. The company will acquire new content as its coffers grow, and hopes to offer as many as 100 free mobile video channels with a broad range of genres. And just as television and the Internet did in earlier eras, mobile will cultivate its own success stories.
“Just because you’re big in one medium doesn’t necessarily grandfather you in” to another one, Kearney said. “There is no CNN of mobile TV yet. Therefore it could be monkeys reading the news.”