China's first TV drama to be shown exclusively on mobile phones will begin shooting on March 27, reported the Beijing Star Daily on Wednesday.

The TV opera, titled "Appointment," will have five parts, with each only lasting five minutes. The length was said to be determined according to the cognitive limitations of subscribers.

The Beijing-based Leshi Media Group, the play's investor, found in a market survey that mobile phone users feel tired if they stare at small cell-phone screens for too long. A 25-minute TV drama with five parts was found to be optimal.

Catering to the interest of young people, who are more likely to watch TV plays on mobile phones, the drama is a romantic love story between a beautiful girl and two motorcycle riders, revealed Liu Hong, an official with the media group.

A recently released report by IMS Research estimates that by 2010 there will be 120 million subscribers viewing TV programs on mobile phones. Analysts also say Asian subscribers purchase new mobile phones more frequently than other users.

Before the May Day holiday in 2004, China Unicom launched a service to provide TV programs for mobile phone subscribers. Not long after that, China Mobile also started a TV mobilephone service through GPRS network.

China's TV programs are currently transmitted to mobile phones through 2.5 or 2.75 generation networks, which are not sophisticated enough to convey high-quality TV signals.

The highest download speed of online TV programs is about 80 kbps, still far from the 128 kbps as required for high-quality TV program broadcast, though resolution and color are good enough to meet the basic demands of viewers.

High prices also scare away possible users. China Unicom subscribers have to pay at least 200 yuan (24 US dollars) for one hour's TV program on mobile phones. Handsets that can receive TV signals sell at approximately 5,000 yuan (some 600 US dollars), which makes them unpopular when most others cost 1,000-2,000 yuan (120-240 US dollars).

Still, telecom companies value the new profits promised by the introduction of visuals to cell-phones, as voice market is experiencing increasingly fierce competition.

Source: Xinhua