Channel 4 plans major mobile site revamp to coincide with BB launch
nma.co.uk | 5 June 2008 | By Alex Farber
Channel 4 is preparing a major overhaul of its mobile site to support the latest series of Big Brother.
The broadcaster is keen to use clips of the reality TV series to drive traffic to the site.
It will also add interactive functionality, including viewer ratings and comments.
The Channel 4 site will feature a range of ad-funded video clips along with excerpts from the Big Brother Big Ears online radio show.
The broadcaster is yet to sign agreements with any of the mobile operators to distribute Big Brother clips on their portals, although deals are expected shortly. It’s also in negotiations over who will handle sales of ad-funded content. Last year Channel 4 failed to agree terms with operator 3 and the clips didn’t appear on its portal.
Channel 4’s current mobile marketing agency Que Pasa designed the new site, which is being built by platform provider Mobile IQ. It will feature a wide range of content from Channel 4’s film, music and comedy shows along with Big Brother.
Sheena Peirse, mobile editor at Channel 4, said it was becoming increasingly vital for publishers to promote their own sites. “Channel 4 is an advertising business and the move in mobile towards advertising suits us,” she said.
This is the latest in a growing trend that sees content owners take their material off-portal. CondéNet, which publishes mobile versions of Glamour, GQ and Vogue, pulled all of its content from the operator portals in favour of a purely off-portal presence (nma.co.uk 04.03.08).
Channel 4 recently announced it’s to overhaul its website to create a stickier site ahead of the launch of SeeSaw (formerly Project Kangaroo), which it fears may steal its traffic. It’s keen to build on the success of its E4 mobile site, which launched in January (NMA 10.01.08).
