MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT POISED FOR EXPLOSIVE GROWTH, INDUSTRY LEADERS PREDICT AT FIRST EVER LA MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT SUMMIT™



(Los Angeles, CA and Milford, CT; December 16, 2010) -- Mobile entertainment is poised for explosive growth, that was the clear message at last week's inaugural LA Mobile Entertainment Summit™, produced by The Bob Dowling Group and Unicomm and presented in association with Variety on December 7-8 at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City, CA.

Offering an A-list roster of industry leaders, the summit included keynotes from Peter Guber, Chairman and CEO of Mandalay Entertainment; John Kosner, Senior Vice President & General Manager, ESPN Digital Media; Jeff Husvar, Executive Vice President & General Manager, Fox Sports Interactive; Tim Kring, Master Storyteller and Executive Producer of Heroes and Tim Kring’s “Conspiracy for Good,” and Brian Seth Hurst, CEO, Opportunity Management Company. The LA Mobile Entertainment Summit™ articulated the impact of content on the mobile industry and identified the opportunities and challenges ahead for this nascent, and potent, entertainment delivery format.

With over 400 top flight entertainment and mobile industry executives, technologists, business strategists, financial analysts, software developers, retail buyers, mobile enthusiasts, and media in attendance, the LA Mobile Entertainment Summit™ established itself as the go-to mobile entertainment conference in the country.

“The growth potential for mobile entertainment is enormous,” said Michael Cai, VP of Research at Interpret, LLC, in his introductory remarks delivered on the first day of the summit. Cai reminded the audience that even with the influx of multimedia and smartphones available to the US public, almost half of all cell phone owners (48%) still own basic, voice-centric phones.

"Entertainment on mobile has not even scratched the surface of what is possible," said Peter Guber in his keynote address, adding that "mobile phones are part of our human evolution. They create social cohesion. They allow us to connect with resources and with other people." Guber urged marketers to approach consumers as an audience -- "not just clients, customers or patrons."

According to Summit Co-Producer Bob Dowling, "Embedded radio, live sports streaming, full movies, TV episodes, news and utilitarian apps will ultimately drive consumer interest across the mobile entertainment landscape, but they aren't there yet ... navigating that bright future is what the LA Mobile Entertainment Summit™ is all about."

"As the market accelerates, the LA Mobile Entertainment Summit™ will lead the industry thought leaders through the landscape of opportunities and challenges as the industry's de facto event," said John Golicz, CEO of event organizer Unicomm. "We're pleased that the high level of networking we provided at the Summit will help facilitate eventual deal-making across the mobile ecosystem."

"Variety is excited to be a partner in the LA Mobile Entertainment Summit™," said Linda Buckley Bruno, Variety's Publishing Director. "We are always on the vanguard of change in the entertainment industry, helping navigate our readers through fast-moving developments that lead to industry-wide transformations."

ESPN's John Kosner shared an important statistic during his keynote address: in an average week 50% of ESPN mobile users do not visit ESPN's website, adding that 22% of ESPN mobile users prefer mobile to website ...because they can take it with them. "Our mission at ESPN is to surprise, excite and engage sports fans," said Kosner, explaining that a "Live, Local and Social" mandate drives the network's mobile strategy.