ROK Entertainment Group launches free mobile TV

ROK Entertainment Group U.S. have followed in the footsteps of its
UK-based parent and launched a free mobile TV service available
globally. FreeBe TV, the U.S. market s first free mainstream mobile TV
service, currently offers 13 channels of content, including live news,
music and sports, with many more slated in the near future. Available
at www.freebetv.com or from a link off of www.roktv.com, FreeBe TV is
carrier agnostic and can be accessed from 21 mobile phones with
WAP-enabled capabilities.

Users of FreeBe TV don t have to be on
a high-speed, 3G network as the service was developed to deliver high
quality video content over 2.5G GPRS.

In addition to the mobile
version of FreeBe TV, ROK announced today that the same service will
soon be available for the PC, via the Internet, as well. FreeBe IPTV
will deliver the same streaming channels as the mobile TV service over
broadband.

For both mobile and Internet TV (IPTV), the ROK content is completely free with no subscription charges of any kind.

Although
subscription free, FreeBe TV is principally aimed at people with all
you can eat GPRS data packages include in their mobile service.
The
FreeBe TV service includes an extreme sports channel, a vintage comedy
channel, classic cartoons and classic movies channels and live news,
updated every 15 minutes, read by computer-animated monkeys. Two new
channels being added next week includes Mixcast TV, a new urban
lifestyle channel and MavTV, an irreverent network targeting men 18-60.

Additionally,
ROK has created the first user-generated content channel called ‘
YOU-MADE-IT.’ Tapping into the increasing demand for user generated
content, ROK is encouraging viewers of its TV services to send their
own content into the channel, with a selection of the received content
– which it anticipates will range from short movies, comedy clips,
music videos and home-made animations and cartoons, to be included on
the channel, which will stream on the new mobile TV service.
“This
is mass-market 2.5G rather than niche 3G and it’s free, which
dramatically increases access to mobile TV and massively reduces
barriers to adoption. Only through aggressive and innovative services
such as FreeBe TV can we ensure mobile TV services achieve the critical
mass required for mass adoption and long-term durability. Taking a mass
market product to a mass market audience via a mass market mobile
technology (2.5G) is the best way for the mobile TV industry to grow,”
comments ROK’s Jonathan Kendrick.

“Of course having launched
free mobile TV in the UK we have already generated a significant
audience, and when we grow audiences, we’re obviously getting into the
realms of advertising-supported channels.” Kendrick concludes.