1st April - Mobile operator 3 UK announced the launch of the first ad supported, commercial mobile music video service in conjunction with Sony BMG Music Entertainment(UK). The service, powered by Rhythm NewMedia, is available to all 3 UK customers and is accessed through 3’s music homepage. Customers can now watch their favourite music videos from artists on their mobile phones anywhere and at any time.

The new Sony BMG video collection is the latest addition to 3’s existing free mobile video service. The service is offered to customers with no data charges and is supported by short, targeted video ads. Rhythm NewMedia both sells and delivers a targeted and personalized video ad before the music video based on demographic data collected. This new service complements the existing 3MusicStore, and will also offer links to purchase products.

"We are excited to be offering this first-of-a-kind service to all 3 UK customers. Rhythm NewMedia is a leading force in ad-funded mobile video entertainment, and it is a key part of our mobile strategy to make our artists' music videos more widely available on the mobile platform," said Alex Vlassopulos, Head of Business Development, SONY BMG Music Entertainment(UK).

3 UK Head of on Portal Advertising, Neil Andrews said ”We know that our customers want to receive high-quality content on their mobiles and that they’re happy to view ads in order to receive it. This agreement with SONY BMG and Rhythm NewMedia enables us to meet that demand with some of the best music content around. We were the first to market with an ad-supported mobile video service and now we’re building on that with the industry’s first mobile music service.”

Rhythm Director of Commercial Partnerships, Mike Fletcher said “We’re happy to have more great videos to showcase and are excited about the success we’ve already had to date providing videos to 3 UK customers. It’s great that customers have been expressing such high satisfaction with our service, and are happy to watch content which is supported by short video ads.”