www.Soapdom.com - ABC Daytime Anytime Thanks to Proteus (2024)

Coming to a cell phone near you, or -- all my mobile.

f you just can't get enough of love in the afternoon on ABC, try 24/7. In a sweet deal with Proteus, a leading provider of mobile content, ABC Television has entered into an agreement which gives soap fans everywhere the chance to personalizeyour cell phones with content from your favorite soaps. More important, ABC has discovered another way to get you closer to your favorite shows, characters, and stories! It seems people are attached to their cell phone nowadays. What better way to be in touch!

The program launched a few months ago and so far, so good. "We are very excited to offer our viewers the ability to customize their mobile phones with assets from their favorite ABC shows," said Bruce Gersh, senior vice president of Business Development for ABC. "The new suite of ABC mobile products we are developing with Proteus will provide innovative ways to deliver show-related mobile content."

Tim Shey, co-founder of Proteus, is truly excited about this new venture. 'Proteus has been developing mobile products for years, and has had a long relationship with ABC, including developing interactive mobile applications for ABC programs such as College Football, the Emmy Awards, and about two years ago, The View.' That particular campaign was extremely successful and paved the way for this new venture. It was the beginning of a long series of talks that resulted in this synergistic project.

Shey believes that the daytime audience is completely underserved, especially in mobile content and has been working on this exciting new project for over a year. The goal ' reach more women!

"Through our partnership, ABC is able to quickly deliver a broad range of content directly to fans of ABC shows, creating a new revenue opportunity and furthering audience loyalty," said Ken Krushel, chief executive officer of Proteus. "More and more consumers are downloading content using their mobile phones, and we are thrilled that ABC has partnered with Proteus on this ambitious and innovative mobile content initiative."

In a very simple way, the whole just idea just fell into place. Shey told SOAPDOM, 'ABC was one of the first companies we approached. They [ABC] had been thinking along similar lines of finding new ways to reach their audiences, including mobile, and we found a very natural fit for a partnership between our companies.'

But there are several other reasons. Proteus saw ABC as a natural partner; the dedicated fan base is almost impossible to ignore. It's very clear to Proteus that this untapped market had immeasurable potential. A whole new segment of mobile content was, and is, just waiting to be tapped. Shey believes, 'Many soap viewers may have never used text messaging, ringtones, or the like before. Just as important, we had a willing partner in ABC Daytime. They understand their audience and they are willing to support new and innovative ways of involving their fans in their favorite shows.' As a matter of fact, ABC has made finding new platforms for content a key initiative'it's in all the papers!

Both ABC and Proteus hope this will push viewers to become even more web savvy. They believe it's the coolest thing on the net. Since women's lives are busier than ever, it's hard to keep up with their favorite soaps. This will keep women excited and engaged. According to Shey, 'Our offering complements other ways people are keeping in touch with their shows, including websites like SOAPDOM and soap magazines.'

But that's not all. Now available on a phone near and dear to your ear is a mobile subscription service called Soap Confidential. For just a couple of dollars a month you'll get a mix of content: recaps, insider info, polls and trivia games.

Another important and fun feature arriving in the very near future - no more rings! How about voice tones recorded by daytime's biggest stars announcing your calls. Imagine Erica Kane picking up your calls with a message like: "You think YOUR phone's ringing off the hook? Just imagine what it's like to be Erica Kane!" Or how about something like this: "It's probably one of your exes calling. Take a lesson from Erica Kane---let it go to voicemail." La Luuch and her All My Children co-star, Cameron Mathison (Ryan), along with One Life's Michael Easton (John) and David Fumero (Christian) and General Hospital's Tyler Christopher (Nikolas) and Scott Clifton (Dillon) are the first ABC stars to sign on as the next voice, or voices you hear.

The more SOAPDOM talked to Proteus, the more they seemed to know about the stories, the characters, and the shows. When One Life to Live's John McBain was mentioned, Proteus was definitely keyed into the show. A ringback from Llanview's tormented and brooding detective John McBain might sound like this, 'Pick up the phone, but be careful what you say. I think this line might be bugged." Proteus takes the viewers seriously, and that's a real plus.

Now to the nitty gritty. How do you get ABC Daytime on your mobile phone? It's easy. Stay connected right now live ' to your favorite ABC Daytime Soap with exclusive text messages, wallpapers, screensavers, and ringtones. Sign up by visiting http://ABC.com/mobile or by sending a text message with your favorite show's initials ('AMC,' 'OLTL,' or 'GH') to the number 22288 (ABCTV).

Then, subscribe to Soap Confidential by calling a toll-free number ' 1-888-9-ABC-SOAP - and use a simple touch-tone menu to sign up. Choose the shows from which you wish to receive messages. The subscription service costs $1.99 per month for each show, charged directly to the subscriber's mobile phone bill.

Prior to this joint venture, mobile content was usually found on wireless carriers. ABC gives the content network exposure, and in partnership with leading mobile content company Proteus, Inc., is supported through all major wireless carriers, including Cingular, Verizon and Sprint.

This is the most ambitious mobile content offering to date by a network. Just like ABC's legendary LOVE IN THE AFTERNOON campaign, the alphabet network is first in daytime, in terms of messaging. Visit the ABC Mobile store today.

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