Cellphones May Soon Bring Games to Fans

People don’t use cellphones just to make calls anymore. Cellphones take pictures, send e-mails, get news, play video games -- and that may be just the start.

Microsoft’s Bill Gates was quoted by a German newspaper Thursday as saying iPods would soon be passe and that people would be downloading their favorite music into their cellphones.

Watching sports on cellphones may not be far off, either.

“I think we’re two years away,” Richard E. Bennett Jr., president and chief executive officer of SmartVideo Technologies, Inc., said Thursday. “All the pieces are in place to do this. The handsets are out there, the technology is out there, the audience is out there and the content is out there.

“The missing ingredients are deals with the sports leagues and teams, and the promotion to make people aware that they can do this.”

SmartVideo, an Atlanta company, has developed technology that enables customers to watch something close to full-motion TV on so-called smart phones and palm-held devices. The service, launched in January, costs $12.95 a month.

Competitors in this new television frontier include larger companies, such as Qualcomm and Crown Castle International, and cellphone companies.

SmartVideo jumped into the sports arena recently when it joined Fox Sports in providing video highlights of sports events Fox televises, including events on the FSN regional networks.

Verizon and NFL Network this month entered into a carriage agreement. And ESPN’s new deal to begin carrying Monday night NFL games in 2006 includes rights to show games or highlights on ESPN Mobile, a wireless phone service.

Watching sports highlights on a tiny screen is one thing. Watching a game is another.

Will the picture quality be good enough? Will the battery hold up? Will many people even want such a service?

And how will sports organizations and sports networks welcome this technology?

Sports organizations are always looking for new revenue sources, so that may not be a problem. But the networks are leery of anything that may further erode ratings.

Tony Vinciquerra, Fox Networks Group chief executive, in a recent interview with Multichannel News, voiced his concerns about local baseball telecasts being made available through the “MLB Extra Inning” pay package and on the Internet at MLB.com. Also, local radio broadcasts are available through XM satellite radio.

It’s diminishing the value of the baseball rights, Vinciquerra told the magazine.

“We’re not happy with what [baseball] is doing,” he said. “They’re pushing the envelope at every corner to increase distribution, and we don’t think it’s fair.”

Asked about streamlining sports events on cellphones, Vinciquerra told The Times that telecasters, in his case Fox and its regional networks, should be compensated.

He also said that if sports become ubiquitous, ratings deteriorate.

“Scarcity creates more demand,” he said. “If people can watch games at any time and any place, demand will fall off.”

SmartVideo’s Bennett sees a lot of potential, though.

“Fans in the stands can supplement what they see live with what they see on their cellphone,” he said. “For instance, at a NASCAR race, fans of Jeff Gordon can watch the race and also ride along with him with the benefit of an in-car camera.”

Recommended Viewing

Bob Costas’ revamped HBO show makes its debut tonight at 9. “Costas Now,” formerly “On the Record With Bob Costas,” has been changed from a weekly show to a monthly show, now runs an hour and is on earlier in the evening.

“There’s a name change and a time change with it being monthly but I’m still the same person,” Costas said on a conference call. “I’m not going to come out and juggle. I do what I do.”

Tonight’s show will include an interview with NBA Commissioner David Stern, a feature on the late Tony Conigliaro, a report by Armen Keteyian on the use of amphetamines in baseball, a panel discussion with Costas, Charles Barkley, Cris Collinsworth and John McEnroe, and a chat with Billy Crystal.

Another show worth watching tonight is the debut of the second season of the excellent weekly series “NASCAR Drivers: 360” on FX. It will be televised around 7:30, after coverage of the Busch series race at Richmond, Va.

The unscripted, seven-week series provides a look into the daily lives of some of the biggest names on the NASCAR circuit.

Short Waves

Who needs the Lakers? For the first round of NBA playoffs, TNT ratings were 5% higher than last year’s.... NBC got a 7.3 national rating for the Kentucky Derby, which was watched by an estimated 16.1 million viewers.... Betting on the horse racing network TVG Saturday set a one-day record of nearly $6.4 million, including about $2.77 million on the Derby.

Fox’s Terry Bradshaw, who suffers from bouts of depression, will be among those honored at the Erasing the Stigma Leadership Awards luncheon today at the Beverly Hilton for his work in educating the public about the illness.... Donovan McNabb and Daunte Culpepper will appear on ABC’s “George Lopez” on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.

KSPN (710) hosts John Ireland and Steve Mason are putting on a celebrity poker tournament Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Normandie Casino in Gardena to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.... HorseRacing TV, another horse-racing network, will air a show titled “Celebrity Handicapping Challenge” on Monday at 8 p.m.

In Closing

It has often been said, and bears repeating: Announcers, please remember to give the score. Rick Monday and Al Downing went long stretches Wednesday night without mentioning it.