Cell phone company Sprint Nextel Corp. is becoming a media company, producing its own sports and entertainment newscasts for its wireless Internet service in addition to the repackaged video programming it provides from TV networks and other content providers.
Sprint Power View will provide customers with about 25 minutes a day of brief, original segments on sports, entertainment and news. Among the offerings are NFL Game Center, hosted by sports broadcaster James Brown, and The Mobile Fix, a five-minute entertainment news show. Another called "New York Fashion Week" will feature interviews with fashion designers.
The company already offers live television feeds and video clip downloads from cable and satellite broadcasters. This new service, free to Sprint Vision and Power Vision subscribers, appears to be the first attempt by a U.S. cellular operator to generate a regular supply of video content with its own studio, on-air talent and production crews.
Sprint Power View shows will originate from a studio in New York in partnership with IMG Media. In addition, 15 mobile camera crews will file on-location stories from venues and events from major markets in the United States.
The service is compatible with about 30 handsets in Sprint's lineup. A mobile entertainment company, mSpot, is providing a multimedia application to use the service for Java-based phones. Customers with non-Java handsets can access Power View through Sprint's TV service.