RNS Number:8829W
Cellcast plc
13 January 2006


Press Release                                                    13 January 2006


                                  Cellcast plc

                         ("Cellcast" or "the Company")

                                 Trading Update



Cellcast plc (AIM:CLTV), a global interactive digital broadcaster, today
provides a trading update for the 12 month period to 31 December 2005.



The Directors are pleased to report strong performance in both trading and
business development during 2005. The Company is confident of exceeding market
expectations for the year ended 31 December 2005.



UK operations and programming continue to build a strong audience base and
viewer participation, in a media landscape being reshaped by the convergence of
television, mobile telephony and the Internet.



The Company's proven business model is generating new sources of income and is
attracting new broadcast partners worldwide.  Cellcast is pursuing market entry
strategies across five continents and recent developments include:



China



Cellcast has entered into a new joint-venture with Shenzhen New Power Technology
Limited to develop and distribute interactive television entertainment for the
China market. A key strength of the joint-venture is New Power's national
billing agreements with China Mobile and China Unicom.



The first programme developed by the joint venture is a daily reverse auction, '
Bid2Win', broadcast on TVS-3, one of the leading entertainment channels in
Guangdong, China's richest province.   'Bid2Win' is also accessible via the
Internet and China Mobile's WAP portal.



China has the world's largest mobile phone market, with more than 377 million
mobile phone subscribers, an average of 29 mobile phones per 100 people.



China has seen tremendous growth in the usage of SMS, and it currently accounts
for one-third of the world's SMS messaging. According to Pyramid Research, by
2007 SMS revenues in China will escalate to #9bn, generating greater revenues
than all of Western Europe. As China Mobile and China Unicom struggle with
declining average revenue per user (ARPU), SMS and MMS are gaining momentum as a
driver of revenues. According to China Mobile, the country's leading telecom
operator, in the past year its users sent over 700 million short messages a day,
and revenue from data business now accounts for 20% of China Mobile's total
earnings.



John Cheng, Chief Executive of Shenzhen New Power Technology Limited, said "
Significant revenues from premium mobile content are being captured by Internet
portals such as Sina Corp, Sohu and NetEase. However, the penetration of
television in China is many times higher than that of the Internet, and the TV
stations are keen to share in the mobile entertainment market. Cellcast's
formats and applications are attracting the strong interest of major
broadcasters in China."



Europe : Ukraine



Cellcast Ukraine, a new subsidiary, has partnered with STB, one of Ukraine's
leading terrestrial broadcasters, to launch a new interactive quiz show 'King of
the Mountain', which is broadcast seven days a week.



Cellcast is providing the technology, graphics, formats and all intellectual
property for the show, as well as training production personnel and consulting
on the ongoing format development.



The show launched on 19 December, and initial ratings and traffic are very
strong. Andriy Tyulenev, Commercial Director of STB, said "Cellcast's
interactive TV formats offer the benefit of driving strong ratings and
generating significant incremental revenue opportunities for STB."



The Ukraine has an estimated general television audience of about 40 million.
Cellcast Ukraine is also currently pursuing commercial discussions with other
national and regional broadcasters about launching several new interactive
television formats in the Ukrainian market in 2006.




South America : Ecuador



Following its successful entry into the Argentine market, the Company is
extending its roll-out in South America.  On 20 December it launched Ecuador's
first participation-TV show, and initial ratings have been very strong with an
average audience share of 19%.  'Insomnia' is being broadcast nationally on
Ecuador's number one TV channel TeleAmazonas.



One of South America's smaller nations, Ecuador's two and half million mobile
phone subscribers have the highest per capita use of SMS texting in the world.



Having successfully opened up the market, Cellcast is reviewing opportunities
for launching several more interactive formats in Ecuador during 2006.



Conclusion



Andrew Wilson, CEO of Cellcast plc, said "Cellcast continues to demonstrate its
ability to move quickly and effectively in response to new market opportunities.
 Content and formats already proven in the highly competitive UK TV market are
being syndicated to an increasing number of broadcasters worldwide. In addition
to recent progress in Eastern Europe, South America, India and China,
significant new initiatives are underway in France, Greece, South-East Asia,
Central America and the United States and we retain a confident outlook for
2006."



                                    - Ends -



For further information:
Cellcast plc
Andrew Wilson, CEO                                     Tel: +44 (0) 20 7190 0300
andrew@cellcast.tv                                              www.cellcast.com


Daniel Stewart & Company Plc
Marc Young, Corporate Finance                          Tel: +44 (0) 20 7776 6550
marc.young@danielstewart.co.uk                           www.danielstewart.co.uk



Media enquiries:
Abchurch
Henry Harrison-Topham / Tania Wild                     Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700
henry.ht@abchurch-group.com                               www.abchurch-group.com



Notes to Editors:

Cellcast plc is a leading international provider of participation television
applications and interactive mobile content in the fast-growing multi-platform
digital entertainment sector. Headquartered in London, with associated
operations in Paris, Beirut, Mumbai, Hong Kong and Buenos Aires, Cellcast's
applications and programming are distributed on the Sky Digital platform in the
UK and broadcast partners include Canal+ in France; Future TV, LBC, MBC, Dubai
Television and Rotana in the Middle East; Telefe in Argentina, and Zee TV and
Star TV in India.



Cellcast's revenues streams are independent of both advertising and subscription
fees.  With a network of revenue sharing agreements with telecommunications
carriers and aggregators across five continents, Cellcast receives a share of
the call revenue every time a consumer uses a mobile or fixed-line phone to
participate in its interactive entertainment, revenue which is retained or
shared with its broadcast partners.  Cellcast's programme formats and
proprietary Interactive Platform (CIP) also facilitate delivery of content to
mobile phones, the internet and broadband-delivered IPTV.  This enables viewers
to continue participating in a programme away from the TV, generating 24/7
revenue opportunities.



Cellcast plc joined the AIM market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange on 21
September 2005.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END

TSTBIGDBLBBGGLD
Cellcast (LSE:CLTV)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2024 to Oct 2024 Click Here for more Cellcast Charts.
Cellcast (LSE:CLTV)
Historical Stock Chart
From Oct 2023 to Oct 2024 Click Here for more Cellcast Charts.