CanWest MediaWorks and Rogers Wireless have found a way to play ‘near TV quality’ video on BlackBerrys, and on Aug. 8 launched a service they call bbTV with a selection of sports, news and other clips.

Arturo Duran, president of interactive and business integration at CanWest, says the partnership with Rogers is the first in the world to make video available on the portable devices. It uses technology developed by New York-based Sona Mobile.

‘We found that everybody was targeting youth users on cellular phones, etc., and someone forgot about BlackBerrys,’ he says. ‘[BlackBerry users] are growing very fast, they have money, they work, and business users are one of the best targets that you can find.’

However, at eight frames per second, down from the 30 of normal television, the ‘near TV quality’ part is debatable. Current ‘3G’ wireless technology could allow for as much as 15fps, but Duran says the download would be too slow. Rogers plans to increase the bandwidth when 4G technology becomes available, perhaps in 2008.

Rogers will not say how many BlackBerry users are on its network.

The service includes the Global National newscast, presented as breaking news eight times a day in 90-second clips created specifically for bbTV. Other content such as Global Morning is not bbTV-specific. Length runs anywhere from 90 seconds to three minutes and these are also offered eight times per day. This content airs immediately following its TV broadcast.

Rogers Sportsnet will provide two or three clips per day, 60-90 seconds each, recapping the previous night’s sports news. On occasion, breaking news and key interviews will also be featured.

The channel is supported by ads and a $5-per-month subscription fee. Each clip is bracketed by an eight-second ad.

MobiTV adds CHUM channels

The parade to wireless continues with California-based MobiTV striking a deal with CHUM to make several of the latter’s programs available on cell phones in full-length, streaming format.

MuchMusic, Star!, MuchVibe and MuchMoreRetro have been added to MobiTV’s Canadian lineup. Viewers can watch these channels simulcast with the TV broadcast, complete with commercials. Some of the other offerings available through the usual slate of carriers include CBC Newsworld, Fox News, The Weather Network and G4techTV.

Erik Smith, VP of business development and programming for MobiTV, says the company already has news and weather covered, so it was time to go after another coveted category – entertainment. ‘People want something they can get in and out of very quickly,’ says Smith.

‘The watch times are not super long, certainly not as long as regular television. So, typically, when people have eight to 10 minutes, they want to watch something that resolves itself quickly – things like music videos, cartoons and stand-up comedy.’

MobiTV has also recently completed similar deals with Corus for Treehouse and YTV.

The quality depends on the network’s technology and the viewing device’s capabilities, but Smith says that on a 3G network a viewer can expect anywhere from 15 to 22 frames per second.

MobiTV entered the Canadian market in September 2005 with 12 channels and now has 22. It has one million customers worldwide, with the bulk of those in the U.S., where it has operated since 1999.

Idol partners with Telus

Perhaps you’ve noticed that the official wireless sponsor of CTV’s Canadian Idol is not the network’s sister company, Bell Mobility. Instead, rival Telus got the nod.

A CTV spokesperson says Bell was approached but declined the offer, commenting, ‘We’re a business and we do business with Bell competitors all the time – Rogers and Telus are frequent advertisers on CTV.’

Telus SPARK customers can use their phones to send in votes for their favorite performers, get the latest Idol news, enter contests and download video footage of the top 10 performances, as well as ringtones, images and songs.

MIGS set for November

Set to go Nov. 8-9, the Montreal International Game Summit is entering its third year, and is continuing to expand its reach beyond Quebec and the northeastern U.S.

Unlike leading trade show E3, MIGS is intended as ‘expertise development’ for creators, developers and producers of games on consoles, PCs, mobile and online.

This year’s big events include speeches by Reggie Fils-Aime, president and COO of Nintendo of America, and Chris Hecker and Chaim Gingold, from Maxis/EA, who are both working on the highly anticipated game Spore from designer Will Wright (The Sims).

The gaming industry was recently rocked by the announcement that E3 will radically scale back to become more industry focused. There are rumors that large publishers/developers and other gaming events, including popular public events like Quakecon, may make changes to take advantage of E3’s shift. However, Jean-Pierre Faucher, executive director for MIGS and a director of Quebec’s new media business development association Alliance numériQC, says that, with one exception, it’s business as usual for MIGS.

Last year ‘international’ was added to the summit’s title to reflect a growing maturity. ‘We wanted to [get more] into Europe, California and British Columbia,’ says Faucher. ‘This year it’s becoming more international, not only for participants but also for speakers.’

The summit has grown yearly in attendance, from 500 in 2004 to an expected crowd of more than 800 this year.

Fight Network goes south

Following in the wake of an earlier deal with Verizon, The Fight Network has signed with U.S. wireless carriers Cingular and Sprint to bring its Fight Mobile content to more than 150 million customers south of the border.

The deal is something of a coup for the Toronto-based digichannel, but president Mike Garrow says there were no comparable providers to whom the U.S. carriers could have turned.

‘There aren’t any other competitors that are focusing on the combatant sports marketplace 24/7,’ he says.

The content goes well beyond the ‘sweet science.’ Fight Mobile offers seven categories of streaming and downloadable content within three disciplines – boxing, pro wrestling and mixed martial arts.

The clips are typically 30 seconds to 15 minutes in length and range from showing a single knockout to edited-down boxing matches. The content provided to the U.S. carriers is owned by The Fight Network or is generated in Canada. Fight Mobile is carried in Canada by Telus.