Ringing in new channels

You know that mobile content is more than just a flash in the pan when icons from the format world step into the kitchen. Endemol plans to launch two mobile phone channels through partnerships with worldwide phone companies. Set to start in 2006, one of the channels - Extreme Reality Channel - will feature "a non-stop parade of the bizzarrest and weirdest" video clips that will be updated weekly. This branded entertainment will be pulled from Endemol's international library of content and reversioned for mobile.

Another mobile video offering on the way is the Thumbdance Channel. Seattle, Washington-based mobile entertainment provider Mobliss is pairing with LA-based FremantleMedia Licensing Americas (the US licensing arm of FremantleMedia) to produce a collection of made-for-mobile programs for this channel. (Rest assured, they will include reality programming.) Although there's no launch date yet, Thumbdance promises to make a substantial dent in the emerging American mobile video market. After all, the two companies involved are the same ones that introduced SMS messaging for American Idol.