Mobile phones to get ad-supported MTV music videos

Although MTV already has an on-demand a la carte video service from US mobile providers, but this marks the first time Viacom has allowed MTV content to be shared for free.

MTV Networks has partnered with Mywaves to offer free, ad-supported music videos and other MTV clips that can be viewed using mobile phones, targeted for the 18-34 year old age range.

Users will also have access to video clips from Spike, VH1, GameTrailers and other MTV bands channels. Starting today, users are able to watch VH1's On This Day in Music video clips, and will soon be able to watch Spike TV's 30 Seconds of a Hot Chick and various clips and game trailers from GameTrailers. More content from MTVN will be added throughout 2008.

MTV and Mywaves will share revenue generated by advertising through the new service, with one company receiving a bigger portion depending on who makes the final sale. Advertisers may be more likely to support programs like Mywaves since the video quality and professionalism is much higher than most user-generated content on YouTube and other similar sites.

Mywaves is working with Microsoft and Toyota to launch ads through the Mywaves service, with Mywaves helping edit and shorten the 30-second commercial clips shown on TV. Toyota earlier in the month launched two new ads through Mywaves: one featuring WAP banners, the other showing 15-second commercial clips. Most video ads used through the service will likely be shorter in duration, as in-house testing revealed users were less likely to finish watching a 30-second advertisement. All ads shown with MTV content will also be 15-seconds or less, to ensure a higher level of viewer interest.

Since the turn of the century, MTV has been transitioning from a music channel that shows music videos more into a reality television channel, though the channel still dominates the young adult demographic. This stranglehold on young viewers has made it easy for MTV to reach distribution agreements with mobile phone providers.

Mywaves reportedly has 5 million unique visitors per month who can watch content from more than 400,000 channels and spend an average of 24 minutes viewing content per visit. The company has previously worked with Fox and CBS, with more partnerships expected in the future.