Telecom middleman taps movie archive. (Technology).FORGET people talking while they're driving, Moviso LLC (Logical Link Control) See "LANs" under data link protocol. LLC - Logical Link Control and the Motion Picture and Television Archive have partnered on a deal to bring celebrity photos to cell phones. Starting this summer, cell users will be able to choose from a library of more than 1 million celebrity images, including James Dean Noun 1. James Dean - United States film actor whose moody rebellious roles made him a cult figure (1931-1955) James Byron Dean, Dean and Elvis Presley, that can be downloaded for $1 each. Shawn Conaban, Moviso's president, said the operation, a unit of Vivendi Universal, works much like private label groceries, in that most customers think the content comes from their carrier. Moviso and the as-yet unidentified carriers have a revenue sharing revenue sharing Funding arrangement in which one government unit grants a portion of its tax income to another government unit. For example, provinces or states may share revenue with local governments, or national governments may share revenue with provinces or states. arrangement that returns between 35 percent and 65 percent of each purchase to Moviso, Conahan said. He declined to say what Moviso's split was with the archive, though it won't make any upfront contribution to the deal. As for the depth of the market for Hollywood icons smiling out from cell phones, Conahan is convinced the market is there. He said Moviso gets 100,000 downloads daily from customers around the world pulling down its ring tones and primitive graphic files, and celebrity images are yet another way for wireless users to personalize the devices. "People identify with pop icons," Conahan said. "What we're doing is enabling users to connect with people who are meaningful to them." Conahan said the company would try to boost revenues from the service by signing advertisers to sponsor the content. The deal with the movie and television archive is consistent with Moviso's role as middleman mid·dle·man n. 1. A trader who buys from producers and sells to retailers or consumers. 2. An intermediary; a go-between. between wireless carriers and content providers. It has a catalogue of mobile media -- ring tones, graphics -- it delivers to wireless operators, device manufacturers, entertainment companies and retailers. The company, in the midst Adv. 1. in the midst - the middle or central part or point; "in the midst of the forest"; "could he walk out in the midst of his piece?" midmost of a move from Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. to Westwood, operates on about $9 million a year, Conahan said. The company is a reconstitution of ring tone provider Premium Wireless Services, which Vivendi bought in January. Conahan said the division would reach breakeven breakeven 1. The level of output or sales necessary to cover fixed expenses. Companies in industries that have high fixed costs and, consequently, high breakevens, such as automobile and steel manufacturing, are likely to exhibit large fluctuations by the first quarter of 2003. Staff reporter Christopher Keough can be reached at (323) 549-5225, ext. 235, or at ckeough@labusinessjournal.com. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion