YooMedia eyes mobile opportunities

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Interactive digital TV company YooMedia is planning to extend its successful cable and satellite TV applications to the mobile sector, and is also hopeful of adding popular games to the Freeview digital TV platform. "There are capacity issues with Freeview," admitted Aubrey Welch, director of games for YooPlay, "but our people had the foresight to invest in the bandwidth.

"We're focused on driving the vertical business forward," Welch told advanced-television.com during Mediacast, "and where it's technically feasible and commercially viable, extend our strengths to other platforms. We see a great future in mobile opportunities."

YooMedia is currently undertaking detailed research among existing broadcast service subscribers to gauge the potential demand. "We know that a lot of people play games on their consoles while on public transport," Welch said. "What we need to know is what they play, and whether they would be prepared to pay. We also need to ensure we can transfer the functionality. Then it's a case of finding the right commercial model to justify any particular sector."

Welch anticipates a high level of interest from mobile sector players keen to maximise the potential of interactivity. "We're very interested in exploring the right deal with the right partner," he admitted.