Thrills at the bus stop: Vivendi launches premium series for mobiles

Entertainment giant Vivendi said Tuesday it was launching the "world's first premium series for mobiles" with a slate of 25 dramas made in ten ten-minute parts.

The fast-paced thrillers, romances, sci-fi and action stories are made to be viewed while people "wait for their bus or train or while you queue for a coffee", Vivendi Content chairman Dominique Delport told reporters at the MIPTV festival in Cannes, France.

He claimed it had the potential to change the way the millennial generation watched drama.

"Around 60 percent of smartphone users watch videos daily, but they are not likely to jump into a 'Game of Thrones' while they are waiting for the bus," Delport said.

With more "cliffhangers and hooks to hold the audience" than in films or conventional TV dramas, a whole series will cost "no more than the price of a couple of coffees" to watch via an app, he told AFP.

Vivendi, whose stable includes Europe's biggest film and television series production company Studiocanal as well as Universal Music, plans to roll out its French launch in September to 20 countries across Europe and Latin America.

After the initial wave it aims to add a new series every week, with some free first episode teasers being run on its Dailymotion online video arm, Delport said.

Most of the first batch of series are in English, with others in French and Spanish, but all can be "subtitled or dubbed" depending on the market.

- 'Revolutionary' -

Studio+ chairman Manuel Alduy said although the idea was revolutionary, "US TV series already fade to black for advertising breaks every ten minutes", so film-makers were quick to grasp the idea.

Among the opening series will be "Urban Jungle", about animals turning on humans, "Amnesia" -- when people in a city begin losing their memory -- martial arts story "Brutal" and the US-set "Madame Hollywood".

With no big-name actors or directors costs could be kept down to 1 million euros ($1.1 million) a series, Alduy said, while "keeping the highest television standards".

But their quality and the fact that they can be made in 18 to 25 days was already attracting stars, Delph said, "who don't need to commit to something that is going to take a year".

And he was bullish that the target 18 to 35 age group audience would be willing to pay.

"This audience is willing to pay for its sport and for video games," he said.

Delport denied that Studio+ could be compared to the US telecom's carrier Verizon's go90 app, which was launched last year and also includes original, mosty reality series. "They are not the same. Verizon are doing great stuff but not premium series? (Our series) are scripted with high production values with an international appeal."

He said Studio+ aimed to tailor series at specific markets rather than a one-size fits all Hollywood approach. "Each country in Europe is a village with its own specificity and we know this the same everywhere."