WebProNews

The real-time TV offering available to Sprint and Cingular subscribers has started catching on with users.

The company that makes MobiTV bills it as "Live Television. Anywhere. Anytime." USA Today notes how three Berkeley guys took a crazy idea - television on a tiny cellphone screen - and made it reality. Recently they received an Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Engineering Development for the service.

MobiTV has been available for almost two years, since Sprint began offering it in November 2003. News, sports, and entertainment fill the lineup of channels offered. And people seem to be watching, as around half a million people subscribe to the service.

A host of rights issues keep primetime programming off MobiTV. Networks have to figure out how they can make money from the small screen, as well as addressing royalties and other contract considerations. That would seem to make reality shows the first candidates for availability from MobiTV, since the "stars" are contest participants.

For someone waiting in an airport for a delayed flight, the option to turn on Fox Sports or MSNBC would be appealing. It will require a multimedia-capable handset, and the addition of a data plan to a subscription. Sprint and Cingular both charge $20 per month for data plans, and then MobiTV costs $9.95 per month on top of that.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.