TORONTO – So will TV on your "Crackberry" make the device even more addictive? Thanks to an agreement made official today, we’re about to find out.
As first reported in May by Cartt.ca, CanWest MediaWorks has licensed an application with U.S. tech company Sona Mobile to bring television to Research In Motion’s popular BlackBerrys. However, only those with the 7130g and 8700 models will be able to take advantage of the service. CanWest is the first broadcaster in North America to launch the service.
CanWest has signed a marketing partnership with Rogers Wireless and Rogers Sportsnet to offer free players and special video plans to customers with the launch of bbTV. The new service "will offer Rogers Wireless customers access to near TV quality synchronized audio and video files," says the release, of CanWest content, such as breaking and daily news from Global News, Global National, Global Morning and the Financial Post.
In addition, bbTV will provide daily sports information and commentary from Rogers Sportsnet and not from CanWest’s own sports departments.
The bbTV media player will be made available free of charge to Rogers Wireless’ BlackBerry customers, however the new video rate plan for users will be $5 per month.
"bbTV will provide BlackBerry consumers with daily clips of high quality on-demand video content they can take on the go and we’re very excited to be the first-to-market in Canada with this technology," said Arturo Duran, president, interactive and business integration at CanWest MediaWorks. "bbTV gives us a new distribution platform for delivering our content and provides advertisers with a new advertising platform to reach niche audiences in a more targeted way."
Clips on bbTV will begin and end with a five second ad from launch sponsors General Motors, Tylenol, Royal Bank and Labatt.
"We’re living in a mobile generation now, where consumers are using a variety of ways to stay connected and receive information on the go," said Hugh Dow, president of media buyer M2 Universal, the agency for GM, Royal Bank, Tylenol and Labatt. "We see bbTV as an important platform that our clients can incorporate into their marketing efforts and ensure they are reaching target markets as their needs evolve."
BbTV will be marketed by both Rogers and CanWest MediaWorks. Rogers Wireless customers can now subscribe to the newly launched video plan and have bbTV wirelessly installed on their BlackBerry free of charge.
"Instead of reading the news, our customers can now watch it unfold anywhere, at any time in a comprehensive time saving format," added said John Boynton, senior vice-president and chief marketing officer, Rogers Wireless, in the release.
“We are thrilled to offer the first-ever commercially available media player for BlackBerry,” said Niall Carson, Sona Mobile’s vice-president responsible for the MediaPlayer for BlackBerry. “We believe that this application will be very well-received in the marketplace and the BlackBerry community."
