Verizon Wireless is the latest wireless carrier to offer more entertainment options to its subscribers.
The wireless phone company will use Montreal-based Airborne Entertainment's PocketBoxOffice micro entertainment network, which includes channels such as TheFunniest, CraniumCrank, Garfield, Dear Abby and The Last Word in Astrology.
Airborne Entertainment distributes content to carriers of both wireless phones and personal digital assistants. Subscribers to Sprint PCS, AT&T Wireless, Bell Mobility, Yada Yada, PacketVideo, AvantGo, OmniSky and other services can access the PocketBoxOffice applications.
Garner Bornstein, CEO of Airborne Entertainment, said entertainment content on wireless devices can prove very profitable for U.S. and Canadian wireless carriers.
“The U.S. and Canada are entertainment markets: These are massive consumers of entertainment commodities,” Bornstein said. “We think this is a massive marketplace in which the tip of the iceberg hasn't even started.”
For example, wireless provider ITT DoCoMo in Japan has generated $18 a month per subscriber above basic service fees for entertainment content, according to Bornstein.
