+++ Hollyoaks To Be Shown In Oz...On Mobile Phone +++

Soap opera Hollyoaks is to be shown for the first time in Australia...but only on mobile phone.

The Chester-set soap - which has featured actresses Ali Bastian, Elize Du Toit, Gemma Atkinson, Jodi Albert, Sarah Dunn and Terri Dwyer - is to be trialled Down Under on Vodafone.

If it proves popular among Vodafone subscribers, it could be screened in future on Australian terrestrial TV. Cop drama The Bill is the most popular British show currently screened on TV in Australia.

Vodafone Australia content head Keith O'Brien said Hollyoaks producers Lime Pictures wanted to build up the show in Australia on mobile before trying it on television.

Mr O'Brien said: "The makers of the show and Vodafone are conducting a bit of an experiment to see whether we can bring a property from Britain, use mobile to get critical mass and then take the show to Australian broadcast."

He said the British ex-pat market is also in Vodafone's sights.

Mr O'Brien said: "There is an addressable base of a million ex-pats in Australia and this will appeal to a significant proportion of them."

Should the Hollyoaks experiment prove successful, similar programs may follow. The new interactive channel, launched two weeks ago, allows customers to vote for the material they want shown.

Mr O'Brien added: "We're surprised with the uptake to date. It's the perfect platform to test some new ideas and new content."

Vodafone switched on its mobile TV service in Australia last November. Channels screened include MTV, Sky News and a football-focused UEFA channel. Vodafone's rival in Australia, Hutchison, recently claimed its broadcast of the recent Ashes cricket series notched up more than two million "viewing events"

Source: lse.co.uk

 

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