Mobile portal NDTV Active to be launched in December

NDTV Convergence, the digital media arm of the NDTV Group, is gearing up to release a beta version of a mobile portal called NDTV Active in December. The portal has been developed by the US-based July Systems.

Sanjay Trehan, CEO, NDTV Convergence, says, “The portal will be tested in real conditions for a few weeks, after which it will be launched commercially.”

NDTV Active will be packaged with various mobile sites consisting of text-based content like news, movies, astrology, music, lifestyle and stocks, powered by NDTV’s online content. Video content will be added later on.

Trehan says, “NDTV Convergence is planning to monetise the portal through ads, sponsorships plus offering some sections of the portal on a subscription basis. Apart from this, we have plans for content syndication and we are in talks with a few mobile operators to provide content for their mobile portals.”

NDTV Convergence has recently launched a cricket website (www.cricketndtv.com) and it is working to roll out a youth website, an education website and a Hindi news portal called NDTVKhabar.com early next year. There are plans to revamp the business news website, NDTVProfit.com, as well by featuring various tax, insurance and loan based applications.

A website for NDTV’s lifestyle channel, Imagine (www.ndtvimagine.com), was also launched on Wednesday. It is a showcase of the team behind the Imagine channel and indicates the programmes that will be broadcast once the channel goes live in January 2008.