Reuters' new TV service for mobiles aims at tech-savvy professionals who don't watch TV

Reuters.TV, revealed to staff by editor-in-chief Stephen Adler two months ago, will be introduced early next year. It will be supported by single commercials between stories. Subscribers will pay a low monthly fee to receive personalised video content created solely for the platform. The company has declined to say how much it will charge. Initially it will be available only on iPhones and iPads.

"The pace of change has been incredible in TV, but it hasn't manifested itself in TV news," said Isaac Showman, managing director, Reuters.TV.

Editors will produce segments that will be assembled via an algorithm, customising each "broadcast" to a subscriber's location, desired length and interests. That way, a subscriber watching the news at 9:00 pm in New York will probably see a different show than another subscriber watching at the same time in the same city, Showman said. Subscribers will also be able to schedule a news show to download for commutes that take them underground. It will be an uncluttered experience, he said.

Reuters will take advantage of its existing resources and bureaus that already produce content around the clock, Showman said. Reuters.TV will also include live feeds of events.

Many members of the target audience have stopped watching traditional TV, Showman said.

Advertising Age said the most important question is whether consumers be willing to pay for the service, and can subscriber and advertising revenue yield enough to be profitable. Showman said the shortage of "real journalism" has made consumers more willing to pay for premium content they can trust.

But Jeffrey McCall, professor of communications at DePauw University in the United States, said he was not fully convinced. "Content will be the main driver if these new technologies are to succeed and it is not a sure thing that mobile tech users are necessarily news hounds," he said. ■