I Want My 3G MTV
Viacom Japan will re-launch their mobile music channel as a social networking service, myMTV, which will offer members their own profile pages along video uploading and sharing functions. The service is ad-supported and free to consumers and will be available on all three of Japan’s mobile operators when it rolls-out in September. According to comments from executives on-hand at the Tokyo press conference, this effort will serve as a model for future deployment in other markets.
“Japan is at the forefront of the mobile entertainment market and is playing a key part in the global development of MTV Networks’ digital products.” said Gideon Bierer, senior VP of digital media at MTV Networks International.
This move represents the obvious (better late than never) evolution of the Flux mobile service which added a broadband offering, with SNS features, in October 2006. Considering the explosive growth in social networking sites over the last several years, combined with the well-established MTV brand and content library, it should be a rather safe bet they will do well within the youth target demographic.