CBS to Make a Soap For the Smaller Screen
TV Drama Designed for Cell Phone Audience

By Yuki Noguchi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 12, 2006

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is developing a made-for-mobile-phone soap opera -- known as a mobisoap -- that is scheduled to be released in the next several months.

The serial show, tentatively titled "Hey, It's Me," will be shown daily on TV-equipped cell phones in three- to five-minute segments and will have its own writers, cast and production team.

CBS is among a number of companies showing interest in mobile television. In recent months, the idea has gained in popularity, as carriers increase the speed of their networks and as more phones come with higher-definition screens that better simulate TVs.

Reston-based Sprint Nextel Corp. recently broadcast a Bon Jovi concert to its cell phone subscribers. It and other wireless companies also offer television or video clips in the form of reformatted live television feeds or snippets of programs that have already aired.

CBS is the second major network to produce programs specifically for cell phones. Last year, Fox Broadcasting Co. developed short "mobisodes," or mobile episodes, of a soap opera and its hit show "24" for Verizon Wireless phones to run over that company's then-new high-speed cellular network.

"We are a content company, and we want to be where the viewer is," said Chris Ender, a CBS spokesman. "Consumers -- and certainly younger consumers -- are with their cell phones."

CBS has not announced what carriers will carry its mobile soap or any pricing or financial terms associated with the show. News of the mini-series was reported Tuesday in Variety magazine.

CBS, which will produce the new shows out of its studios in Los Angeles, also recently announced a number of other new media initiatives, including ones to offer its programming over Internet portals. The company recently signed deals with Amp'd Mobile Inc. to provide entertainment clips, and it has a similar deal with Verizon Wireless that includes entertainment and video news clips.

The company, which produces such shows as "CSI: Miami," "CSI: NY" "Survivor" and "The Amazing Race" also announced a deal last week with Google Inc. to sell some of its programs on Google's new video marketplace.