CBS soap on a phone

FROM VARIETY: New "mobisoaps" being developed for mobiles

By Michael Schneider -- Video Business, 1/11/2006

JAN. 11 | So that's why they call it a "soap opera": CBS's newest sudser will be seen on screens smaller than an actual bar of soap.

The Eye is developing its first original entertainment content for cell phones, a sudser that will run five to seven original episodes a week, at three to five minutes a pop.

CBS's daytime department is handling the project, sealing a deal with writer-producer James Dutcher (City Guys) and Leah Hecker to create the mobile soap (or "mobisoap").

The sudser's title and several concepts are still being kicked around; internally, the show is referred to as "Hey, It's Me" (a play, of course, on how people usually launch into cell phone conversations).

Story arcs could last as long as three months. Casting has not yet commenced, and it's not yet clear what services might carry the show.

The mobisoap represents CBS's latest attempt to move into the wireless communications space. The Eye and sibling UPN most recently signed on with Amp'd Mobile to provide entertainment to Amp'd users' broadband wireless phones, including clips from shows such as CSI: NY, Late Show With David Letterman and America's Next Top Model.

CBS also has a content deal with Verizon Wireless' Vcast to provide clips from CBS News and Entertainment Tonight produced specifically for cell phones, as well as clips from such shows as CSI and Letterman and some behind-the-scenes footage.