Celebrity gossip brand TMZ, a joint venture between Warner Bros. Television Group’s Telepictures Productions and AOL, has introduced a new advertiser-supported WAP site for the mobile phone.
The new chatter site was developed in conjunction with mobile services firm Quattro Wireless. It will be available across carriers on all mobile Web-enabled phones and will include the most popular content from the TMZ.com online site, overviews of stories that will air in the daily TMZ television show and rich content such as photos and video.
“We think that the TMZ content translates very well,” said Lars Albright, VP of business development at Quattro Wireless.com. “Consumers are always looking for entertainment news on their mobile phone.”
Users can access the TMZ mobile Web site by typing TMZ.com into their Web-enabled mobile phone or by texting TMZ to 52662 to get the link sent to their phone. Users can also sign up to receive texts with breaking news alerts and mobile polls.
The launch comes with a push from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment for the DVD release of its film Walk Hard. Ads will run on the TMZ WAP site with pay-per-click text links to a microsite.
The ad inventory being sold and served on the site will be split equally between AOL’s Third Screen Media and Quattro Wireless. TMZ will also be launching an on-deck mobile Web site with AT&T Wireless as the inaugural on-deck mobile partner later this year.
