Archive notice: This article was originally published on March 7, 2006. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Together with network operator T-Mobile, Premiere intends to bring the 2006 Football World Cup to mobile phones: a 15-minute streaming format will be prepared editorially specifically for mobile use and distributed via UMTS in a MobileTV channel updated several times a day, the pay-TV broadcaster announces. Shortly after the final whistle of the 64 matches, viewers are to experience completely up-to-date analyses, background reports and expert interviews. In addition, daily summaries are planned on every match day. T-Mobile is also offering its customers 20 World Cup encounters live on their mobile phones.
Carsten Schmidt, executive board member for Sports & New Business at Premiere, speaks of an innovative offering for fans developed together with T-Mobile. “We are pleased that we can use our extensive TV offering for the World Cup in Germany through a new, attractive distribution channel and now also offer Premiere on the move,” Schmidt explains.
The Premiere channel can be received through the “t-zones” portal as well as through “web’n’walk” with UMTS-capable mobile phones and is part of the expanded offering of T-Mobile’s MobileTV service. The network operator will show a pilot version at CeBIT 2006 in Hanover (March 9 to 15) in hall 26, booth A01. Exclusive World Cup preview reports are due to be available through MobileTV from May 15. The new service is being implemented at Premiere by the Interactive Business division, which is responsible for the Internet, Mobile and iTV channels and develops new business models for them.
In the conventional TV sector, Premiere plans to be the only German television broadcaster to transmit all matches live and additionally in HD quality. Subscribers will also be able to follow all World Cup matches from several freely selectable perspectives and in 16:9 or 4:3 format. For matches played in parallel, Premiere will additionally report in a conference broadcast. Its World Cup program during the four-week tournament was the “most innovative and technically brilliant TV offering” that could currently be realized, the broadcaster advertises.
