Mobile television service provider MobiTV Inc. has signed up 4 million subscribers, indicating a growing demand for rich media content on mobile phones.

The Emeryville, CA-based company added another million subscribers in the past 10 months alone.

"The adoption rate in the industry continues to grow as the devices get more media-centric," said Charlie Nooney, chairman/CEO of MobiTV.

MobiTV offers more than 50 channels nationwide. The lineup includes live TV, premium and primetime programming, video on-demand and satellite and digital music services programming.

The channel lineups differ by wireless carrier partner.

MobiTV offers its services on more than 15 carrier networks, including AT&T Wireless, Sprint, Telus, Rogers, Bell Canada and Alltel.

The service is also available on more than 350 mobile devices. It claims to be the mobile industry's leading interactive platform for advertising, voting, polling and commerce.

Although founded in 1999, MobiTV launched its mobile TV service in November 2003.

Since then, not only has the brand seen an increase in subscriptions, but also a 50 percent jump in unique users and viewing time in the first half of this year.

MobiTV competes with several players in the industry. Qualcomm's MediaFlo USA is its main rival, though.

"We're very much supportive of all the players," Mr. Nooney said. "This is a time in the industry when adoption is very important."

MobiTV's demographic is across the board -- mobile consumers who like music and entertainment as well as business news.

"You're starting to see demographic clusters across the board, like the cable industry," Mr. Nooney said.

Advertising plays an important role in MobiTV's revenue-generation efforts.

Current advertisers on MobiTV include Anheuser-Busch, Charles Schwab, Procter & Gamble Co., Hewlett-Packard Co., BMW and Toyota Motor.

Mr. Nooney sees much growth in mobile TV, especially with the increasing migration of social networking on mobile phones.

A younger audience's acceptance of TV and video on mobile phones also helps the cause.

"I think it's just building habitual behavior," Mr. Nooney said.