Mywaves Gets MTV Content For Its Ad-Subsidized Mobile TV Service

Mywaves, the Sunnyvale, Calif. company building an ad-supported streaming mobile video service, plans to announce tomorrow that it’s expanding its TV channels to include such mainstream content from MTV, as clips from Jackass, VH1, Gametrailers and Atom Entertainment (We see the announcement has slipped out early as often times happens during big trade shows). Coincidentally, we also noticed that Mywaves beat out MTV and Sony (NYSE: SNE) Pictures as the best mobile video service at the Mobile World Congress, so perhaps Sony will be announced next?

Here’s a look at the details:

TV Channels: The service, available at m.mywaves.com, has a shocking 460,000 channels of content. Of the biggies, it already has relationships with CBS (NYSE: CBS) and Fox, with the rest coming from a variety of multi-platform channels, including such odd-balls as Funny or Die and National Banana.

By The Numbers: Three months after its launch, CEO and Founder Rajeev Raman said it had 250,000 downloads, and by the end of the first full year in December, it had 18 million. That month, there were 5 million unique visitors.

On Advertising: Mywaves is also unveiling tomorrow that it has launched a production team for its ad network, which it launched at the end of last year. The production team will help offer consulting services (for example, mywaves suggests 5-and 15-second pre-roll ads over 30-second ones), and will even edit down commercials from other mediums to work in mobile. Recent advertising clients to sign up include Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT), Paramount Pictures and Toyota.

Raman’s opinion on mobile advertising in 08: “I don’t think you can find or point to other examples of video advertising in mobile that’s happening in any significant way. We feel pretty excited about that,” he said. “If you look at it from the advertiser’s perspective, is mobile something you are going to set aside a big budget for in 08? No. In 08, what I’m seeing is more and more brands trying mobile advertising, and different types of mobile advertising.”