Every week (and especially this past week at NAB), I get questions from BIM clients and partners about next steps in our mobile strategy, which is a fantastic occurrence given that it shows that our station partners and our clients are looking ahead to the inevitable growth in the mobile space.

BIM is aggressively rolling in new mobile options into our platform, and evaluating build/buy options with various partners in the areas of mobile video, better SMS/MMS solutions, iPhone apps, etc., which we plan to include as part of our 2010-2011 product roadmap. Especially now that the TitanTV acquisition is completed (as of 8 weeks ago), we are moving to increase mobile options for our clients - as well as our myriad other product platform/roadmap initiatives which include CMS, video CMS, and YouNews/social media development.

However, some additional key points that all BIM clients should be aware of at the time of this blog posting:

• All BIM client sites already have a built-in mobile/WAP version of your site – that is auto-generated by the CMS. These are offered for free to all of our clients. An example of this type of site would be at www.komonews.com/mobile and www.wkbw.com/mobile (if you’re viewing this from a mobile device, we do have the technology in place to auto-direct you to the mobile version of the site even if you type in just the main URL).

These sites are sponsorable, and it should be fairly easy to have a station AE sell a branded display ad on a monthly sponsorship basis to a local advertiser. To date, the vast majority of station clients have not taken advantage of this local sales opportunity.

• BIM client sites were some of the first to have video in h.264 format – compatible across most mobile platforms (including iPad). In fact, when the iPad launched several weeks ago, we tested compatibility and found we had nearly perfect functionality.

• TitanTV has recently launched the mobile version of your programming guides – making your programming schedules easily viewable on any user’s mobile device. These guides are also sponsorable, giving your AEs another revenue-generating opportunity.

BIM looks forward to executing on these existing and other mobile opportunities for our clients in the near future.

Go To Captain's Blog Main Page
About Timur Yarnall, CEO Broadcast Interactive Media