Wireless Federation

Radio Disney, the #1 radio network for kids and families, launches a new Radio Disney Mobile Web site and texting program developed in conjunction with mDisney, a part of the Walt Disney Internet Group. The new Radio Disney Mobile Web site allows users of web-enabled mobile phones to receive fast delivery of Radio Disney information and services including the ability to listen to Radio Disney, see the last ten songs played on Radio Disney, find local Radio Disney stations, send shout-outs, request songs, view Radio Disney’s Top 30 and take a Radio Disney quick poll.

“With over 40% of tweens in the U.S. having mobile phones, it is important for Radio Disney to provide a mobile touchpoint for our core audience. The Radio Disney Mobile Web site and texting program provides our listeners a new way to interact with Radio Disney wherever and whenever they want,” stated Michael Peterson, Executive Director, Digital Distribution, Radio Disney.

Larry Shapiro, Executive Vice President, mDisney continued, “The new Radio Disney Mobile Web site is the perfect example of how we can leverage extremely popular content on the mobile platform to create new and compelling entertainment for Disney fans. This site is one of the first of what will be a long line-up of compelling mobile Web sites built around key Disney franchises and content offerings.”

The new texting program will allow users to interact with Radio Disney via a shortcode 347639 (DISNEY). Listeners will now be able to text the following terms to 347639 for various entertainment options:

RADIO – to visit the Radio Disney Mobile Web site
SHOUT – to send a shout out
LISTEN – to listen to Radio Disney
REQUEST – to request a song
TOP30 – to access the top 30 songs currently on Radio Disney
Radio Disney is the #1, 24-hour radio network devoted to kids, tweens and families. Kids help pick the music that is played and are encouraged to interact via a toll-free phone line to the Radio Disney studio. The network’s current playlist, driven by listener requests and representing major record labels, includes recording artists Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers, Corbin Bleu, Taylor Swift, Jordin Sparks, Chris Brown, Aly & AJ, The Cheetah Girls, Colbie Caillat and Carrie Underwood. The network is available to 97% of the U.S. which includes over 50 terrestrial radio stations. It is also available via RadioDisney.com, XM and Sirius satellite radio, iTunes Radio Tuner, XM/DIRECTV and mobile phones. Radio Disney has a sister network in Latin America. Its brand extensions include multiple Radio Disney Jams CDs from Walt Disney Records and iTunes Music Store offerings.

mDisney publishes Disney-branded mobile games, graphics and tones based on popular Disney characters and franchises such as Hannah Montana, Pirates of the Caribbean, High School Musical and Disney Fairies to major North American wireless carriers. mDisney also recently launched mobile Web site that allows users to access the world of Disney on their cell phones and will soon be connected across platforms with Disney.com, the No. 1 site on the Internet for kids and families. The site can be accessed by texting the word MOBILE to 347639. Additionally, mDisney works closely with Walt Disney Studios, Disney Channel, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, Walt Disney Records, Radio Disney, Disney Interactive Studios and Disney Live Events to create unique mobile entertainment and content for key initiatives around The Walt Disney Company.

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Disney launched a mobile phone service in Japan on Saturday in cooperation with Softbank Corp, entering the tough Japanese cellular phone market following its withdrawal from the the United States.

Walt Disney Japan, the local unit of Walt Disney Co., released three types of mobiles, made by Sharp, all covered with silhouette patterns of Mickey Mouse.

They also have a special online feature that allows subscribers to jump to Disney websites, while Disney’s iconic characters can be used on standby screens and to decorate e-mails free of charge.

Walt Disney Japan has teamed up with Softbank, an Internet conglomerate and one of the nation’s three mobile giants, leasing part of the networks and outlets owned by the Japanese firm.

Disney has become Japan’s first so-called mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), or a company that buys capacity from another firm to provide cellphone services.

In the US Disney Mobile marketed itself as a family-friendly mobile phone service that would allow parents to talk easily to children. But the MVNO with Sprint shut down after only 18 months, with Disney finding it more profitable to sell its content through other service providers.

Japan, a nation of 127 million people, has more than 100 million mobile phones in operation — which translates into a major challenge for service providers to achieve growth.

A Walt Disney Japan official said the firm was confident of success here as Disney already had a strong following in Japan, where Tokyo Disneyland receives tens of millions of visitors every year.

Disney had already been a major content provider for mobile phones in Japan, the official said, adding that its tie-up with Softbank would also help bolster profitability of the service, named “Disney Mobile”.

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US-based entertainment group Disney has revealed plans to launch a mobile phone service in Japan through a tie-up with Softbank Corp, in a bid to win a share of the highly competitive Japanese cellular market. Disney’s local subsidiary, Walt Disney Japan, has submitted an application to the communications ministry requesting permission to launch ‘Disney Mobile’ in the first half of 2008 by leasing capacity from Softbank Mobile, the two companies said in a joint statement. ‘This relationship will enable us to deliver an innovative and integrated mobile service to the broad range of Disney customers in Japan,’ Paul Candland, president of Walt Disney Japan, said in the statement. Masayoshi Son, head of the Softbank group, added: ‘We’re confident that this collaboration with Disney will enable Softbank to further expand its range of customers.’

Disney’s announcement comes just two months after it revealed it was shutting down its US MVNO venture at the end of the year to reassess how to compete in a tough market for high-value cellular services. In its September announcement, Disney said it would serve and support current customers until 31 December, but declined to comment on the financial impact of the closure, or how many subscribers would be affected. The company has been leasing capacity from Sprint Nextel for its MVNO service which offered special handsets that could pin-point the user’s location on a map. Last year, Disney took a USD30 million charge after it shut down its Mobile ESPN service in the US, also run in conjunction with Sprint.

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US entertainment giant Walt Disney plans to launch mobile phone service in Japan next spring using Softbank Mobile’s telecommunications network, sources said.

Disney will develop mobile phone handsets with Softbank Mobile and sell them, and accept subscriptions through the Japanese mobile phone operator’s nationwide sales network, the sources said.

Disney is expected to offer content involving Disney characters and distribute cartoons to its subscribers, they said.

The US entertainment company will become the first mobile virtual network operator, or MVNO, in Japan to offer both voice and data communications service. Existing MVNOs in Japan offer only wireless data communications service.

Softbank Mobile, a mobile phone business of internet conglomerate Softbank, has decided to lease its mobile communications network to Disney as part of efforts to expand its profit base, the sources said.

Softbank Mobile, which has about 17 million subscribers, has been expanding rapidly due to its popular discount fee plan, but it still has adequate capacity in its network, they said.

Disney provides mobile phone service in the US under an MVNO arrangement, but plans to finish it by the end of this year, according to the sources.

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Two weeks after shuttering its Disney Mobile MVNO venture, the Walt Disney Internet Group announced the debut of a free, ad-supported mobile version of its Disney.com site–created by WDIG’s mDisney unit, the site includes streaming video and audio clips, games, photos, movie showtimes, TV schedules, polls and quizzes, with additional interactive, personalized content on tap. “Through this new mobile web site, we provide consumers with anywhere, anytime access to Disney,” said Walt Disney Internet Group executive vice president and general manager of North American mobile services Larry Shapiro. “The site builds on our multiplatform efforts, as it will eventually provide further integration with activities on Disney.com, including Disney.com XD and Disney’s virtual worlds, and will provide a pathway for The Walt Disney Company’s offline divisions to reach their consumers through mobile.”

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Orange UK has signed a licencing agreement with Disney-ABC International Television to secure content for its upcoming digital TV service. The multi-year agreement includes video-on-demand selections from Disney for both the PC and digital TV. Orange plans to launch the IPTV service later this year. The company already offers TV over ADSL in France, Spain, Mauritius, Senegal and Poland. Disney content will include films from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films.

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FierceMobileContent writes…..The Walt Disney Company announced the launch of Disney Mix Central, an online multimedia storefront designed to operate with its Disney Mix Stick MP3 player and Disney Mix Max video/MP3 player. The premium download storefront offers songs and music from Walt Disney Records and Hollywood Records in addition to podcasts from the Disney Channel–content includes media from hit properties like “High School Musical” and “Hannah Montana” as well as feature films like “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.”

Disney Mix Central features include a “browse by” function enabling search by demographics including “boys,” “girls,” “kids and teens” or by types of music, e.g. “Disney Mania,” “Radio Disney Jams,” and “TV & Movie Music.” Songs are 99 cents individual or $9.99 per album; music videos price at $1.99.

“The Disney Mix line has established itself as the top media player for kids because it is easy to use and designed specifically with kids in mind. Designing an online media store where parents can easily find and download the music their kids want was the natural next step,” said Disney Consumer Products VP of global electronics Chris Heatherly in a prepared statement. “We are providing kids more ways than ever to get their favorite Disney movies and music.”

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MarketingWeek writes…Nokia is planning to revive its ill-fated N-Gage brand as a piece of gaming software built into its handsets, rather than a standalone device.

The mobile phone giant is likely to unveil the platform at the Games Developer Conference in San Francisco next month, and is understood to have had talks with publishers including Disney, Sega of America and Vivendi Games.

Nokia launched the original N-Gage, which was a phone and games console hybrid, in 2003 but it failed to live up to expectations. The company’s head of marketing for games Simon Etchells admitted in an interview with Marketing Week last year that attempts by mobile companies to get into gaming had not worked, calling them a “little bit messy” (MW April 27, 2006).

He added at the time: “Mobile gaming has not been as good as consumers would like. It’s not that people don’t want to do it, but a lot of them have tried it and not had a great experience.”

A Nokia spokeswoman says of the plans to bring back N-Gage: “Nokia will continue to redefine the mobile gaming experience with its next-generation gaming platform. To be launched in mid-2007, the N-Gage brand will evolve from a device offering games and services to a comprehensive mobile gaming experience. It will enable users to easily find, buy and play great quality connected games on their Nokia N-Series and Series 60 devices.”

Nokia appointed Lowe to create a £100m global advertising campaign for its N-Series handsets in 2005. The company began a review of its £175m global advertising account for its mobile phone division last month. Grey holds the mobile phone division business in Europe and the US, while Bates is the incumbent in Asia.

Nokia is also understood to have started a review of its global below-the-line roster. The company works with agencies including OgilvyOne, Joshua and Haygarth, but began contacting direct marketing networks last month.

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FierceMobileContent writes…ESPN will resurrect its Mobile ESPN service via Verizon Wireless, this time as a straight-ahead content application and not as an MVNO. The multiyear exclusive deal between VZW and the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader in Sports will extend beyond scores, news, video highlights and fantasy gaming services to include a separate MediaFLO broadcast channel featuring much of the same programming aired on ESPN’s multitude of cable sports networks.

Mobile ESPN is expected to launch sometime this spring, with an unnamed VZW exec telling the AP the application will eventually be adapted for all V Cast-compatible handsets–”Not all people with V Cast-capable handsets use V Cast [and] we expect ESPN will drive additional adoption.” The companies declined to disclose financial terms.

“ESPN has built the best wireless sports application of its kind and we are extremely pleased to offer our unique content and unmatched innovation through the nation’s leading wireless carrier and data provider,” said ESPN Enterprises executive VP Salil Mehta in a prepared statement. “For ESPN, this is the right strategy and the right carrier relationship to grow our business while serving millions of sports fans with the information they want, when and how they want it.”

Parent company Disney launched Mobile ESPN in late 2005 in partnership with network provider Sprint, investing a combined $150 million in the MVNO and its sister service Disney Mobile, which remains a going concern. Disney shuttered Mobile ESPN in September after attracting fewer than 30,000 subscribers to the service. In stark contrast, Verizon Wireless boasts 59 million subscribers, about a third of them with V Cast handsets.

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Washingtonpost writes…ESPN is relaunching its shuttered cell phone service through Verizon Wireless, this time delivering its flashy feed of sports scores, news and video highlights through a top industry player instead of competing for subscribers with its own full-blown wireless brand.

The multiyear agreement giving Verizon Wireless exclusive U.S. rights to offer the Mobile ESPN application on its V Cast phones was expected to be announced on Thursday, executives at both companies said on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been finalized.

The companies also planned to announce that a broadcast TV service for cell phones that Verizon plans to introduce will feature an ESPN channel with much of the same programming being shown on its sports cable networks. Verizon expects to offer the service over MediaFLO _ a separate wireless network developed by Qualcomm Inc. that can broadcast up to 20 TV channels _ in at least one market by the end of March.

The Mobile ESPN service, expected to launch in the coming months, is to be included free as part of the $15 a month or $3 a day charge for V Cast’s assorted multimedia offerings, the executives said.

The Verizon relationship is the first example of the new strategy that ESPN executives promised last September in announcing they were pulling the plug on Mobile ESPN as a standalone cell phone company featuring its own handsets, calling plans, customer service and monthly phone bills.

That ambitious venture, launched in late 2005 by parent company Walt Disney Co., is believed to have signed up fewer than 30,000 customers despite drawing positive reviews for the sophisticated multimedia application that ESPN created to deliver its popular TV and Web content within the cramped constraints of a cell phone.

By contrast, Verizon Wireless has 59 million subscribers, a third of whom have phones compatible with V Cast.

“Not all people with V Cast-capable handsets use V Cast. We expect ESPN will drive additional adoption,” the Verizon executive said.

The companies declined to disclose the financial terms or exact length of the deal, though one executive noted that a multiyear arrangement is lengthier than a typical wireless content agreement.

The Mobile ESPN application will be adapted to all phones compatible with V Cast, starting with perhaps a couple of models at the outset, the executive said.

Mobile ESPN offers real-time scoring updates, video highlights, short newscasts and news alerts. Many features can be customized around a user’s favorite sports or teams. Participants in ESPN.com fantasy sports will be able to manage their teams via cell phone.

Verizon has been beefing up V Cast with marquis names in hopes of generating more revenue from non-voice services as it invests billions to upgrade its cell network for speedier data connections. In late November, the company reached deals to feature user-generated video from YouTube and Revver.com.

The shutdown of Mobile ESPN as an independent wireless carrier marked the first major bust in a rush of specialized cell ventures targeting niche audiences they contend are underserved by the Cingulars and Verizons of the world.

Last year, Disney said it had invested a combined $150 million in developing Mobile ESPN and Disney Mobile, another so-called “MVNO,” or mobile virtual network operator, that is still available. An MVNO doesn’t have its own wireless network. Instead, it puts its brand on another wireless operator’s service _ whose name is hidden from the customer _ and offers its own lineup of handsets and calling plans.

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