Turner Broadcasting System Inc. will make television content from the Cartoon Network and Adult Swim available to mobile users.

Users can watch the TV content via ICO mim, an interactive mobile video, navigation and emergency assistance service powered by the ICO G1 satellite. The ICO mim service will include a broad mix of news, children's, entertainment and sports offerings.

"ICO mim is a consumer-oriented mobile service that will offer 10-15 channels of live name-brand content, available pre-installed or as an off-the-shelf purchase," said Chris Doherty, spokesman for ICO, Reston, VA. "The content will be a mix of news, children's programming, entertainment and sports to appeal to a wide audience.

"We're going after the mass-market," he said.

Cartoon Network and Adult Swim join a growing list of well-established programming brands for the trial, which already includes offerings from NBC Universal and Discovery Networks.

ICO says that the Cartoon Network and Discovery Kids programming will target children, while content from Adult Swim, NBC, MSNBC, CNBC, TLC and Discovery will target a broad consumer audience.

"We definitely believe quality mobile video is a mass-consumer product that will appeal equally to the SUV/minivan demographic and to RV and boat owners and long-haul truckers," Mr. Doherty said.

Some of the service's other key features are real-time traffic information and interactive GPS navigation with dynamic on-the-go rerouting.

Of special interest to mobile marketers will be ICO mim's targeted, location-based ad-insertion capabilities.

"We are looking at this as an advertising platform," Mr. Doherty said. "We're going to know where people are and what they're watching, so they'll be a number of advertising possibilities."

The trials will take place in Raleigh-Durham, NC, and Las Vegas, NV, starting this month. The commercial launch will be towards the end of 2009.

"We're using the alpha trials to showcase the service for any number of distribution partners," Mr. Doherty said.

The subscription rate for the mobile interactive media service has not been set in stone, but it will be between $15 and $20 per month.

ICO mim is a converged mobile media service that addresses consumers' entertainment, information and two-way communication needs with live mobile TV for rear-seat screens within vehicles and portable devices, interactive navigation and roadside assistance.

ICO mim has nationwide satellite coverage and will provide eight to fifteen channels of high-quality live mobile television to portable, larger-screen devices.

ICO mim is powered by the ICO G1 satellite, which is specifically designed to provide a next generation of innovative interactive services to mobile and portable devices.

"There is already a big demand for video and mobility, and we think mobile video is going to be one of the next big things, so we're filling that niche," Mr. Doherty said. "It's high time for television to make the leap to mobile, and our demos have done spectacularly as far as video quality."

However, ICO doesn't mince words when discussing the shortcomings of current mobile media offerings.

"Small screens and limited coverage areas are holding back mobile video," Mr. Doherty said. "People are more suited to watching longer-form video on a bigger screen with high-quality resolution, and with a ubiquitous coverage experience they're going to watch much more video."