The companies said the deal will allow mobile phone users to receive and view content from Turner networks. Turner Broadcasting System International is a unit of media conglomerate Time Warner. Financial terms of the deal were not announced.
Specifically, Ericsson and Turner are collaborating to turn Turner's existing Internet, broadcast news and entertainment content--such as CNN International, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim material--into a format that can be easily viewed on mobile devices. Ericsson will provide the hosting and content management for the endeavor.
The first of these jointly developed services will launch in Barcelona, Spain, on February 12 at the 3GSM World Congress trade show. Initially, the new service will be available in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. But the companies said they will expand the offering throughout the world at a later time.
"We were early investors in using mobile networks to deliver content," said Casey Harwood, senior vice president of digital media at Turner Broadcasting. "And for us, these new services are taking our products to the next level."
At first, the service will feature more news than entertainment, including a three-minute hourly news update from CNN International. Eventually, Turner will add more video and entertainment content to its lineup.
"There is an appetite for video," Harwood said. "We think there is an opportunity to offer access to on-demand content, like searchable archives that make the content available so it can be consumed easily. And the entertainment properties, like Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, lend themselves to shorter formats."
